Offline
by Cafe de Flore
Summary: The name suggests Revy's emotional state, and the story itself is about Rock's gambles, one of which is to break her shields.
1. Chapter 1

\- I -

It was just another job.

Balalaika had found an enemy just outside of Roanapur, a wealthy and influential man who was able to pull some strings resulting in losses of her profit, and apparently this guy was about to continue interfering with the drug trade. He was smart and rather difficult to find as he had multiple hideouts and a formidable army of bodyguards. They were, of course, no match for Balalaika's men, however those guards never engaged in an open battle and left the russian lady frustrated. The man's daughter Tori, however, was not so smart, and having recently turned 17 she successfully ran off from her guards to party with her friends. Unlucky for her, she never arrived to the party, and now was reluctantly sitting in the lower cabin of Lagoon's boat, being guarded by one the Balalaika's soldiers.

Tori seemingly was a wild and difficult to control girl, thus it was no surprise she ran off from her home without giving much thought about her father's warning. She sat on the chair with her hands and legs crossed, sulking; although she was of the kind who'd jump and run for her life at any given chance, she was in a boat in the middle of the sea with nowhere to run, therefore nobody bothered to tie her up. Her kidnapper sat at the same room, patiently waiting for arrival to Roanapur, where Balalaika was expecting to get her bargaining piece.

Rock had just came back from checking the passengers to the upper cabin and plopped on the couch, lighting a cigarette. Revy, who was dozing off on another bunk, shuffled and finally sat up, irritated for whatever reason. The atmosphere downstairs was eerie; the man had a stare that made you feel paranoid, while Tori just watched everything with anger and refused to talk with anyone. Rock had to admit this time he may not be able to connect with their passengers, and sitting with them simply felt unnecessary. Revy, on the other hand, might be more successful if only she tried, he thought, since she and Tori had something similar about them. Perhaps the stubbornness or the hatred-filled eyes, aimed at everyone and everything.

Maybe this was the exact reason of slightly different behaviour of his female partner. If usually Revy doesn't care the slightest about people she comes into contact with and most of the times feels indifferent, the second she and Tori met Revy seemed instantly pissed at the girl, acting all superior and talking harshly. Although the change of behaviour was quite clear, it was within her usual ways, so others didn't pay much attention to it, however Rock was intrigued.

"How long was I out?" she grunted.

"I'm not sure, I spent some time downstairs before coming back here. Half an hour, perhaps."

"We'll be in Roanapur in 40 minutes, then." She ran her fingers through her hair, tucking some loose strands behind her ear. "I'm going to check on them."

"Alright."

It was an unspoken rule not to leave their passengers, whoever they may be, for a long period of time alone. Thieves, murderers, smugglers, this boat has seen them all, and you didn't need to spend a long time in Roanapur to know not to trust anyone. And funnily enough, almost the same moment Rock thought about this, he heard shots coming from the lower cabin.

Dutch had nearly knocked him over when they both raced to the stairs, and as they fled down, Benny joined, tumbling out of his cabin. Three men barged through the door.

The air almost sparked with tension. The first thing Rock saw was Revy holding a gun, pointed at the corner where Tori used to sit. He followed the direction of a barrel - at the other end there was a guard half-lying on the ground in a pool of his own blood, as it oozed from the hole in his thigh. He was pointing his gun at Revy. Behind him, squeezed in the corner, shivered Tori. Her previously angry eyes were now full of fear and tears as she clenched her ripped blouse against her bare chest.

"IT IS NOT YOUR FUCKING BUSINESS WHAT I DO WITH THE HOSTAGE, REVY!" Man growled. "Back off before I plant another bullet in you!"

Rock scanned Revy's body. There was some blood running down her leg from her hip, but the wound was hidden by her shorts. From the amount of blood though, it seemed the soldier was in a much worse situation.

"NOT. ON. MY. FUCKING. BOAT." Revy spat, gritting her teeth with resentment.

Dutch, looking as calm as ever, pulled his gun and pointed it at the man on the ground. "Fun's over. If you don't want to rot in the sea, lower your fucking gun."

Realizing he was not in a position to bargain, he eventually holstered the pistol. At this rate he will die soon anyway, he thought, compressing the hole in his leg that pulsed with blood.

Just as Revy lowered her gun, her and Tori's eyes met. Revy slightly tilted her head, implying for the girl to come, and Tori sprinted around her capturer and hurried behind the redhead. Benny extended his hand towards the girl to take her away from the room, but noticing this she jumped away from him and towards Revy like a rabbit, eyes overflowing with tears and trembling.

"Come with me." Revy's voice was so different from what usually came out of her mouth Rock was perplexed. It was gentle. And Tori complied, closely following Revy upstairs. Rock turned to follow as well, but Revy shook her head at him.

"Revy, you're bleeding."

She seemed to register the fact only now, ignoring the pain during the adrenaline rush. She took a look at her blood-covered leg, and carefully pulled the side of her shorts, revealing a shallow scratch.

Their eyes met in understanding, and Rock remained standing on the steps while they hurried out.

Dutch took away the man's gun and grabbed some bandages, helping the injured guy. The bleeding slowed, but judging from the speed of the bandages turning red, Roanapur's hospital was going to have one additional surgery today.

"Why are you helping me?" The man asked, somewhat confused, gritting his teeth in pain.

"You are still our passenger." Dutch answered. "You did not harm either of us four. Other matters are between you and your employer."

"So why that crazy bitch cared what I do with who I am holding hostage?"

"Balalaika paid for the transport of you and the girl and not for anything else, certainly not for a room in 1-hour motel. You need to behave. After you're out of here, you can do whatever you fucking like." Dutch retorted, annoyed.

"This should be common sense." Benny added, standing in the doorway. "Dutch, you want us to stay with him until we arrive?"

"No. We will lock him up here. I need you at the radar, Benny. Rock, go help Revy if you want. I'm going back to the wheel."

Rock turned towards the deck. On his way he passed a closed door of the room he previously sat smoking while Revy slept. Through a circular window on the doors he saw Tori sitting on the couch, dressed in a black T-shirt, and Revy in front of the girl, holding her by the shoulders. He listened closely, but over the wind and crashing waves he could only make a phrase "you'll be alright". He lit a cigarette, lost in thought, and leaned against the railing, staring into the water.

After a while Revy came to the cockpit where Rock and Dutch sat in silence, staring at approaching Roanapur's port.

"Revy, what exactly happened down there?" Dutch asked.

"I came upon him trying to rape the girl. I pulled the gun, he did too. I think he fired first, but I may be wrong."

"Balalaika will be pissed."

"I know, but what was I supposed to do? Excuse myself and close the door?"

"Let me talk to Balalaika. She might not be happy about her soldier, but instead she gets an unharmed hostage." Rock suggested. He wasn't quite sure if the russian liked or disliked him, but he felt he had her respect and wasn't afraid to bring the tension down with his tongue.

"Don't interfere, Rock, this has nothing to do with you. I'll handle it." Revy answered.

"It has to do with me as much as it has to do with you or Dutch or Benny. This is our business and some things are not tolerable for all of us."

"He's right, Revy. This is not personal, so don't worry and rest." Dutch responded and turned back to the wheel. "And by the way, Rock. Think of what you will say if the fellow dies, because Benny checked up on him and he's already unconscious."

* * *

Back at the office, Rock poured two glasses of whiskey and lay down on the couch, before setting one in front of Revy. She was sitting across the coffee table on another couch, disassembling her Cutlasses and preparing to clean them. Her leg was still bloody, but a corner of a patch was peeking from under her shorts.

Dutch and Benny had left for Yellow Flag after both Rock and Revy decided to skip going out and instead intoxicate on the Lagoon's office sofas.

Rock closed his eyes and leaned his head against the armrest of the couch, his bare feet one atop the other at the other end. "Revy..?" He fell silent before continuing the question to take a sip of his drink, keeping his eyes closed.

"Mm."

"Did you know Tori before this?"

"What? No. It's the first time I saw her. Why?" A hint of annoyance could already be heard in her voice, but Rock wanted to continue.

"I was just wondering why, after always criticizing me of attempts to save other people, you went full hypocrite and decided to save her."

The lingering silence signaled Rock it was about time to open his eyes and see the answer in Revy's eyes instead of waiting for her words. And naturally, he saw hate and anger-filled stare in a dissatisfied face. Revy pressed her lips into a thin line and stared for what felt like eternity, then managed to calm down and emptied her glass of whiskey.

"You feel like telling me something else, Rock?" She asked in ice-cold voice, her hands busy at assembling the cleaned cutlass. The bullets went into a cartridge, one by one, slowly, while she stared into Rock's eyes.

He did his best to pretend his heart did not start pounding faster at the sight, and continued to slowly sip his drink. "No, I was just curious about your reasons." He answered matter-of-factly.

" _You_ have the nerve to be calling _me_ a hypocrite." She tilted her head, gazing down into her ready-to-shoot gun. The hatred she radiated was so fierce, Rock thought if Tori was in the room, Revy would rape her herself just to prove him wrong. "I already gave a reason. I walked in on the soldier trying to rape her in our boat." She spat out. "If he was trying to kill her, or clip her fingers and torture her on our boat, I would have done the same thing."

Rock placed his nearly empty glass on the coffee table and grabbed a pack of his cigarettes. Shuffling he reached for a lighter in his pants' pocket and lit one, deeply inhaling the smoke, his moves deliberately slow.

"So did you save her because you wouldn't allow such things to happen on your boat, or because Tori was a valuable hostage and you wanted to bring her to Balalaika unharmed?"

"Both." Revy answered, her voice still hard. "And both reasons are directly related to our job. Your attempts to save people were never related to job. So tell me, how am I a hypocrite? But do think very well before you open your mouth."

Staring contest continued. Revy played with a gun in her hands, waiting for his answer, while Rock simply looked deeply into her eyes, pulling a cigarette, masterfully hiding his uneasiness about this situation. The ashes at the end were approaching a near-falling stage, and Rock broke eye-contact looking for the ashtray. It lay in the middle of the table.

"I think you're lying."

Just as he thought of reaching for the ashtray to shake off the ashes before it fell on his shirt, his implied calmness and arrogance made Revy snap. Within a second she stepped on and over the coffee table with her army-style boots, knocking her whiskey glass on the ground, slid her knee between Rock's torso and the backrest of the couch, straddling him, grabbed a hold of his tie with one hand and shoved a barrel of her Cutlass into his temple.

"ARE YOU TRYING TO FUCK WITH ME AGAIN!?"

The weight of her body on his stomach forced him to halt breathing, which was also hindered by a suffocating tie. His hand with a cigarette hung awkwardly in the air, never reaching the ashtray he intended, having dropped some of the ashes on the ground during Revy's attack. He looked into her eyes, trying to grasp whether he was a deadman in 10 seconds or 1 minute. She was furious, but… affected. Maybe shaken. So he took his chances to provoke her a bit more.

Ignoring the loaded gun at his temple, in one quick move he sat up and turned, placing his feet on the ground, the movement pushing Revy's body of off his stomach onto his legs. She held onto his tie for balance, not having expected such a change, but keeping her gun glued to his head. Rock continued to ignore the threat, leaning in and attempting to reach the ashtray, making Revy instinctively lean back before he touched her chest with his face.

After knocking off the cinder he leaned back, almost comfortably, staring slightly above into outraged Revy's eyes. Truthfully, this argument filled with hatred and anger from her side was beginning to rub on him, and Rock also felt like losing his patience and the calm-guy act.

"For once, Revy, can't you just admit that you cared for someone?"

"YOU KNOW SHIT, ROCK! FOR ONCE, STOP PRETENDING TO BE SUCH A SMART-ASS OR I WILL MAKE YOU STOP!"

"Yes, Revy, of course! Deny, deny everything! Deny any positive feeling you have, because that wouldn't fit you and your life in this shithole! Deny you ever cared or care for someone, keep on telling yourself caring would make you weak! Keep on lying to yourself about the real you, keep on pushing people away! And if they still refuse to let that go and try to get to know you, the real you, fucking shoot them down! Show them, prove them you don't give a fuck! Shoot every motherfucker who wants to get just an inch closer to you! Now prove me you're as heartless as you want to be seen and pull the trigger! It's a shame though, if you do that, there will be no me anymore to prove anything to. But fuck that! Shit, if you and someone else were the last two humans on earth, shoot him the second you meet him, god forbid he actually gets to know you!"

The cigarette in his hand was shaking. With his other hand he loosened up the tie that was still clutched fiercely by Revy, and he looked away, attempting to find a drop of solace in the nicotine as he put the cigarette to his lips and pulled. He did not want to look into her eyes, the change he saw during his speech was enough. The gun at his temple trembled slightly, but he didn't fear she'd pull the trigger. Instead of cold, emotionless eyes she has when she kills, her eyes were also trembling. Looking at that suddenly felt like something so intimate he had to look away, suddenly feeling uneasy about the success of his provocation.

Revy sat motionless on top of him, like a statue with a gun in one hand and a tie in another. Rock still avoided her eyes, and looked down at her muscular thighs, one of them with a trace of already crusted blood. He pulled at his cigarette again. He had a habit of resting his hand on his thigh between the puffs if he sat smoking, and was already lowering his hand before realizing Revy's leg was on that exact spot. Considering her disregard of nudity and the pose she mindlessly occupied now, resting the back of his hand on her thigh did not seem to be a big deal at first thought, but an accident he witnessed before more than a year stopped him and left his hand hovering in the air.

Rock and Benny were sitting in the Yellow Flag, emptying glasses of beer, waiting for Dutch and Revy to join after they finish some business in the city. Sitting at the bar with his right-hand side towards the entrance, he quickly registered movement with a corner of his eye and turned his head towards the door where his partners just entered.

Benny, already quite drunk, raised a glass and shouted something to them in order to catch their attention, but the holler also caught the ear of some Colombians, who sat at the table near the entrance, the table that Revy and Dutch were about to pass. One Colombian guy was seemingly a newbie and the gang were having a drinking party as a welcoming for him. Already visibly wasted, he turned to noise-creating Benny, and subsequently followed his look to find long bare legs coming his way. Rock did not see his expression, but judging by the reaction of his drinking mates, who began waving at him not do anything stupid and shaking his shoulder to wake him up from hormone/alcohol-induced frenzy, he must have had his tongue out like a dog.

Revy ignored the commotion and calmly approached Benny and Rock, Dutch behind her, when the new Colombian guy sneaked his hand right on Revy's leg. Revy reacted almost instinctively, wasting no time for looking or thinking, unholstered one of her guns and shot the guy precisely between the eyes. This went down so quickly, neither Colombians nor Dutch had a chance to pull out their own weapons, and after the shot the bar became very silent as everyone turned to look what happened. As the bar registered Revy and a dead body lying by her feet, people turned back to their drinks, and Revy turned her head to the table of Colombians to inspect their intentions. Since there were none, she calmly stepped over the body, upholstering her gun, and joined Rock and Benny as if nothing has happened.

Something clicked inside his head, and it wasn't Revy's bullet.

Her reaction to a girl almost getting raped; her reaction to being touched by a random man. Rock had already realised a long time ago that Revy's current power and her amazing gunslinger skills did not come out of blue sky. There was no way a young teenage girl in NYC had such abilities with weapons, therefore most likely she didn't have any way to protect herself. She only told him the cops beat her senselessly; perhaps she did not tell him the full story, or a hundred of stories for that matter. He didn't know what she went through. And the skills she have now are her power, her shield, and her protection. She became untouchable, and a touch is punishable by death. Is everything she demonstrates now is an over-compensation of what she didn't have growing up?

And she was holding onto the power, refusing to compromise. To trust someone means to open up; to open up means expose yourself. And being exposed means you might get hurt.

Rock became disgusted by himself. By wanting to draw out her confession or feeling, he bit where it had to hurt the most; selfishly opened her wounds without even thinking what she might feel.

He stood up, holding Revy tightly against him by her back until she regained her balance, then let go, allowing her to step back, away from his body. She let go of his tie and a hand holding a gun was hanging by her side, the only thing directed at him were her eyes. She figured him out. She realized what he was trying to do, realized he wanted to provoke her. She did not fully understand his need to connect, to know, to understand other person, but could now very clearly see how important it was for him. So much so that he prepared a tactical plan to get something human out of her, so much that he nearly got himself shot, so much that he felt a need to shout out everything that has been hanging on his tongue in order to provoke her. So much, that he felt guilty as a dog after saying all these things that were supposed to bring her over the edge but instead woke her up from an emotional state.

Revy sighed, watching Rock plummet into the couch, burying his hands into his hair.

"Revy. I'm sorry…"

"Rock." She cut him off. "If you so desperately want to connect, look for someone else." He raised his surprised eyes into hers as she upholstered her weapon, having expected to hear something that will mean destruction of what little trust he had, but instead hearing something about him. "I don't do this. I have my reasons, and they are not meant to be shared, not with you, not with anyone." She collected her other gun, grabbed a pack of cigarettes and turned towards the door. "Third time you try to pull this on me, I _will_ fucking pull the trigger." She warned coldly.

As she stepped through the door, she heard his answer.

"I don't want to connect with _someone_ , Revy."

The words slithered through her ears and straight into her chest, causing a subtle sting as she furrowed her brows with unfamiliar sensation.

* * *

PS

I initially intended this to be one-chapter short story with much lighter ending but it took an unexpected turn, and what I mean by that is that the atmosphere became too heavy to even attempt some positivity. If you guys like it, I can try to write several more chapters, but if you don't - that's good, because these characters are really difficult to write.

With love, as always,

Cafe de Flore


	2. Chapter 2

\- II -

The sun was beginning to rise, enlightening the dirty waters of Roanapur's port. Revy yawned, leaning against the boat's torpedo, and fished her pockets for a pack of cigarettes and a lighter. She pulled her last cigarette from the crumpled package and right before crushing it noticed something inside. It was a piece of neatly folded paper with Rock's handwriting. The paper said "Since you refuse to let me say this aloud - I'm sorry for pushing you." It was four days after their argument.

"Fuck you, Rock." Revy calmly answered to a silent morning air and lit her cigarette, before crumpling the paper and throwing it overboard.

Soon she heard steps on the boat.

"Good morning." Benny said with a yawn.

"Hey."

"You're here alone?"

"Do you see anyone else?"

Benny smirked. "Not really, but I'm still sleeping, so I might be missing something…"

Revy chuckled. "Yeah, I know.. Who in the world decides it's a good idea to do a job at 5 am?" She asked rhetorically, pulling her smoke.

"It's Chang." Rock's voice reached them from another side of the boat as both turned to look at him approaching, carrying two or three heavy bags. "I heard Dutch on the phone yesterday, but I only gathered this much."

As Rock came closer, having left the bags on deck by the door to the cabin, Benny squinted his eyes, observing. "Is that… a black eye?"

"Yea… I got assaulted yesterday on my way from the office to the apartment. Some guys with mexican accent beat me up, but luckily Dutch heard the commotion and planted a bullet in a leg of one of those guys through the open window, without even stepping outside. Anyway, can I borrow a lighter? I seemed to have forgotten my own." He answered, placing a cigarette between his lips.

"Catch." Revy warned, throwing the lighter, which Rock tried to catch with his left even though he was right-handed. After picking it up from the deck he winced in pain rolling the lighter's wheel.

"What's wrong with your right hand?" She inquired after witnessing him shoving it into his pants pocket in order to immobilize.

"Same." He said. "I had a fracture when I was 15 so sometimes it hurts even after a slight hit."

Benny extended his head, waiting for the Dutch to arrive with the task of their new job, but since he was nowhere in sight, sat down with his legs hanging down. "How did you break it?" He asked, lazily initiating small talk.

Rock didn't answer immediately. He stared into the horizon, pulled his cigarette, and looked down at his shoes. Both Revy and Benny turned to look at him and his unusual silence.

"I was disciplined." The ashes from his cigarette fell into the gentle waves and rubbish floating atop. He turned to look at rather surprised faces of Benny and Revy, which he found funny. Two badass pirates speechless after hearing about a beaten child.

"By your parents? Did they… want to break your arm?" Benny asked, suddenly interested.

"My father, yeah. I don't think this was his intention, but he never told me it wasn't."

"Why did he beat you?" Revy asked with curiosity about the "you" part. Considering Rock came from a functional family, she never considered that he was abused as a child.

Rock half-smiled, shifting his gaze back into the sea. "He caught me masturbating."

Benny scoffed. "That's sick!"

"He thought the same thing." Rock actually gave a laugh.

"No, I mean breaking your arm because of that was sick!"

"I know, I know." Rock replied, still smiling somewhat bitterly.

"Morning, guys." Dutch interrupted the further talk. "Slept well? You got a nice one Rock." He said, looking into his face.

"Yeah, thanks to you I only got one."

"So, what are we doing today?" Benny inquired.

"Smuggling two police officers from Japan. Apparently they got into some trouble and fled, and Mr. Chang very generously invited them under his wings. They will be waiting for us in some no-name island with military base in South China Sea, it's somewhere between the Philippines and Vietnam. I got the coordinates."

"How much he's paying and why so early?" Revy asked.

"25,000 dollars for a job plus fuel expenses. They are under pursuit, so it's best if we pick them up at dark and still have some nighttime to lose the tail. If we leave now, we pick them up at around 11 pm."

"16 hours?" Revy said. "That's insane. Anyway, how did they get there to begin with?"

"There's a plane landing airstrip, they hired some air-based smugglers." Dutch answered. "Benny, take this." He handed a paper. "Coordinates. Also, Rock, did you bring the food?"

"Yeah." He nodded his head towards the direction of the bags. "Microwaved pizza and hotdogs are on the menu."

"Great."

* * *

6 hours into the trip Rock woke up from a nap and went to the fridge to grab himself a can of beer. After a thought he grabbed two more and went to visit Benny, clicking away something with his computers, and later went up to the cockpit. Dutch was motionless in his chair so Rock assumed he was sleeping with boat running on autopilot, though he couldn't see his eyes hidden by the circular glasses. He placed a can by the dashboard and left.

He planned to drink his beer outside, but the air was cold and rainy, so he went back downstairs again, his steps echoing on metal. Revy was nowhere to be found, but he didn't want to go looking in all the cabins, so finally settled on the bunk bed with his legs extended and opened his can alone.

Ten seconds later Revy appeared out of nowhere, her hair down and all messed up, making it seem she woke up from the sound of beer.

"Want one?" Rock asked, pointing at the can.

"Yeah…"

He stood up and grabbed another can, giving it to Revy, who sat across him silently, trying to shake off the sleep. "Thanks…" She muttered.

Rock slit back into his bunk and assumed previous position. Revy mirrored his move and lay on the bunk she sat on. "How's your hand, Rock?"

He wiggled his fingers in the air, furrowing his brows. "Worse than I would like to admit."

"Why did these guys pick on you?"

"They thought I'm a tourist, probably because of my clothes."

"Which is another argument for changing your office attire." She reminded of her disapproval of his white-collar look.

Rock remembered the touch-Revy-and-die bar scene. "If people in Roanapur decided that it's okay to touch you whenever they want just because you show your skin, would you change yours?"

She didn't have to think about this one. "Point taken."

Rock fell silent, remembering the incident several days ago. He expected to find Revy outraged and pissed at him, something similar to what happened after the submarine looting. However if the last time he felt and knew he was right with his behaviour and morals and thus unafraid to point it out to Revy, this time he realized he fucked up by attempting to make people behave and feel like him rather than themselves. As if his way was the only way and therefore Revy should "fix herself" and become more like him - this is how he now saw what he tried to do. And yet, despite this load of bullshit, Revy was here chatting with him as if nothing has happened. Perhaps she took his apology, perhaps it was for the best.

The thought that she will probably always remain secretive, emotionally-impaired power-maniac who only maintains shallow relationships was starting to sink in. It was sad.

* * *

Many boring hours later and already after sunset they arrived at their destination. Two men were waiting near the small port, hidden in the shadow of some old crooked building.

Dutch and Rock jumped out to meet them, while Revy and Benny watched from the boat, hearing muffled bits of greetings and exchanged introductions.

One man said his name was Michi. He was average looking average height japanese man with short black hair, his only notable feature was his confident look. The other one called himself Tarou. He was taller than Rock, brown-haired, broad-shouldered and sported a wicked grin despite the circumstances he was in. Rock eyed the second man curiously. He seemed familiar.

Four men entered the boat. Dutch went straight to the wheel and started the engines, their boat soaring off into the dark waters, while the rest of the company and two passengers went inside the cabin. It was dimly lit, but brighter than outside, allowing the people to see each other more clearly.

Benny shook Michi's and later - Tarou's hand. "I'm Benny. Here's Revy."

The men nodded, Tarou carelessly eyeing her from legs to face.

"Yo." She replied, suspiciously glaring at Tarou.

Suddenly Benny heard Dutch's voice over an earpiece. "Benny, keep an eye if we have company." He pushed a button and replied "Sure thing!", waving at the people and flying down the stairs to control room.

Meanwhile, Rock stood frozen, staring into Tarou's face. The man turned his head to acknowledge the look he was getting, and his eyes widened. With equally surprised emotion in his voice asked in Japanese.

"Okajima Rokurou?"

"Sa-Satori?"

Tarou, or Satori, burst out laughing, looking amazed. Then squinted his eyes a little. "I cannot believe my eyes. What are _you_ doing here? A hostage?" A smirk found its way back into his face, amused.

Revy sat on top of the mini fridge, eyeing the men intently. She didn't understand what they were talking about, but she could tell Rock and this guy knew each other; and she very much disliked the way he talks to Rock.

"I have to say I'm as surprised to see you in the uniform, Satori Kenshin. Less so to have become a client of us. And to answer your question, I work with The Lagoon Company." He answered coldly.

"Shit, did they take you in out of pity?" The man laughed. Michi, standing nearby, decided to interfere, nudging Tarou in the shoulder. "Hey, calm down."

"Obviously, you haven't changed at all from school days, Satori." Rock replied as calmly as he could, although inside he boiled with anger.

"It's Tarou. And you might look smart now, but you're still just a _rag doll_ , Okajima."

This word - sounding like _ragu-doru_ \- Revy understood. She slid down from the fridge and without taking her eyes away from Tarou uncliped one of the pistol holders, keeping her right arm across her breasts, hand resting on a handle.

Rock's eyes blazed with uneasiness and anger. High-school memories came rolling back, and once again he found himself void of words - a skill he seemed to have mastered by now suddenly gone. However the familiar sound of Revy's Cutlass gave him just the reassurance he needed now.

"You have a nerve, _Satori_." Rock calmly slid his hands into his pockets, mainly to hide the tremble. "Your life is in the hands of your childhood enemy and his companions, and for doing you a favour by getting you out of trouble, you so carelessly speak like this?"

"Ha!" He laughed again. "Childhood enemy? Don't flatter yourself, you weirdo. To become someone's enemy you have to have guts to do something. And you were paid for the job, so don't act all high and mighty. Who do you think you are? A pirate? Don't make me laugh! You are exact same weakling as before, only now hiding behind some bitch's guns. Pathetic!"

Rock's eyebrows furrowed at the insults thrown at him, but the comment about Revy brought it over the top. He clenched his hands into fists, in his anger fit not bothering to calculate his chances with taller and stronger man. Tarou, however, didn't even notice, as after spitting out his statement he turned to go towards other cabins, intending to explore the ship, but Revy's cold voice and the sound of release of the gun's safety stopped him.

"Where exactly do you think you are going?" She asked in English.

Tarou turned around to see a barrel pointed at his face. "Give me your guns. You're not walking around the boat armed." She glanced at the other cop. "You too."

Michi was more cooperative, and without any questions handed over his two pistols to Rock, who was standing red faced, and tried to easen up the atmosphere.

"Hey you guys. I already told Dutch that we didn't see any pursuers for a while now, but who knows what might happen. I'm curious how long it will take to Roanapur?"

"16 hours." Rock muttered, his eyes still fixed on Tarou. "We will give you a cabin so you can rest a little."

"Ok, sounds great. Thanks."

Meanwhile Tarou looked at Revy and her gun. Slowly upholstering his gun, he asked in his broken English.

"I can strip more than my guns for you, lovebird. You look hot with these pistols. My kind of chick." He smiled.

"Shut up and fuck off." Revy replied. "Now follow Rock, both of you."

Tarou chuckled to himself over the nickname, murmuring "Rock" under his nose, loud enough for everyone to hear.

Rock ignored this and walked past the guy to lead them to their cabin with Revy following all three of them, her gun still in her hands. She was looking at Tarou's bulging shirt in his back, her eyes squinting in suspicion. As two clients entered the cabin, she stepped inside behind them, with several quick movements easing Tarou of his second gun. He turned around with a smile and grabbed her hand. "Hey doll, undressing me already?" Revy's pistol rammed straight into the front of his pants, and a part of his smirk was wiped away. "Calm down, doll."

"Call me a doll once again and I will start calling you Cockless. We clear?"

"Yess, Revy." He winked.

Angered, she turned on her heels and locked the doors of their cabin, shoving the key to her pocket. Then proceeded to lift her annoyed eyes at Rock, silently whispering "What the fuck?"

Rock turned away without saying anything and went back to the main cabin. Revy couldn't help but notice emotions in his eyes, she could see he was somehow affected. Something between sad and angry. She followed him to the fridge where he grabbed two cans of beer and after handing one to Revy, darted outside into cold and windy night's air. She stayed inside despite her curiosity nagging her to find out what were they talking about. On the second thought she realized she never really cared too much about what drove Dutch and Benny, what they felt after various shit happening - although she noticed how closed up they could sometimes get. This was the exact reason The Black Lagoon company lived on merilly - the companions never dug too deeply into each other's pasts and minds - the lesson Revy taught Rock not once, but twice already. And now, well accustomed to these hard-set rules, she was feeling the need to break them.

"Perhaps you were right about me being a hypocrite." She said, staring into the can of beer.

Revy opened it, jugged it all down in one go, and relaxed on the bunk. Pushing away the thoughts she tried to fall asleep, but the sleep never came.

* * *

Dutch's heavy steps echoed on the boat as he left the cockpit and turned towards the cabins. His steps halted suddenly, and Revy heard muffled bits of conversation before he and Rock came inside.

"Revy, pizza?" He looked around. "Where are the cops?"

She sat up and scratched her head, some strands falling loose from the ponytail. "I'm up for some pizza." Revy pulled her hair band out and began assembling her locks into a tidy ponytail. "As for them, I took their guns and locked 'em up."

Dutch stared into Revy inquisitively, trying to understand her reasons from the shallow response. They always took away the guns; usually the passengers were kept inside a cabin and not allowed to roam freely; very rarely did they feel the need to lock them up. The cops seemed like comprehensible fellows to Dutch at first glance, so this turn out was eerie.

"Why?" He asked.

Rock, who was silently pulling the frozen pizzas from the boxes, spoke up. "One of them was my classmate back in high-school, I recognized him only when I took a good look at him inside. We weren't on the best terms then and surely aren't now. He insulted me and Revy, and I think we both were under impression he might cause some trouble. He acted like he owns the boat and owns us and we're to obey his orders."

Dutch raised an eyebrow. "Then it's for the better. But I guess we should still bring them some food and …"

"Rock, what did he say about me?" Revy interrupted. Her eyes were fixed on his face, inspecting his reaction and waiting for a reply.

Rock cursed in his thoughts for allowing it to slip. He looked at Revy and knew how badly this is going to get if he tells her, but he also knew she would never let this go.

"He called you ... _baita_." He replied unwillingly.

Revy rolled her eyes in exasperation, standing up all angry. "Rock!"

She didn't have to tell him she didn't understand the word, it was rarely used even among the japanese.

"Roughly translates to prostitute."

The cabin became very silent for a few seconds. Then, hell broke loose. "AND YOU'RE ONLY TELLING ME THIS NOW!?" Revy grabbed her guns from a table, shouting curses as she stomped towards the cops' cabin. Dutch tried to catch and stop her, on his way knocking down a dresser, that stood by the bunk bed littered with empty cans, causing the tins clink loudly on the metal floor. The microwave began ringing with an annoying tone, announcing food was ready to eat. Amidst the chaos, Benny opened the door, cheerfully shouting "Hello!"- the word starting on high notes, yet ending with low as he tried to register what exactly was happening.

As Revy and Dutch wrestled, Rock updated Benny about what he missed, and pulled out the pizzas out of the microwave. Finally, the company sat around the table, having their nerves somewhat calmed.

"Benny, can you bring two plates for the cops?" Dutch asked, deciding on the most neutral of the party to do the task.

"No. I will do that." Rock replied firmly. He finished up heating the last two pizzas. Others eyed him curiously as he placed one additional plate on the table, and took one in his hand.

"Revy, can you accompany me?"

They fell silent again. Everyone except Rock was thinking that Revy and him are the least suitable people to go into that cabin after what happened, however Rock sported that look again. The look he had when he decided to fly the boat into the air to take down a helicopter, the look when he played Chang and a bunch of other people to fulfill some plan.

Calm, confident and determined eyes with a drop of slyness were rammed into Revy. She felt irritated with him, however complied.

Unlocking the door to the cabin Revy's eyes were fixed on his face with intense curiosity. It was very difficult for her to handle her own impulses over what she had been called, but Dutch convinced her to let it slide since it wasn't really personal.

However, she couldn't help but feel angry over Rock's calmness and lack of emotions. She couldn't understand how he can bear to be humiliated like this and to be so weak. She had no idea what to expect now, as he willingly intended to have another encounter.

As the doors opened, they found the room pitch dark. Revy stepped inside cautiously, unholstering her weapon and listening if the men were up to something, but there was only the sound of calm breathing inside the room. She frisked the wall for light switch and the sudden brightness revealed the passengers had been asleep on their bunks and begun to wake.

Rock stepped inside and placed a plate on the table.

Tarou roused. "Oh, so you will feed your prisoners now?" He mocked.

"You're not our prisoners, you're clients. We're being paid, remember?" Rock calmly replied, and without waiting for a reply turned to another man. "Michi, why don't you join us at the table? We also have beer if you want."

Michi scratched his head, took a glance at Tarou, who was glaring angrily, and nodded. "Sure."

As they stepped outside the cabin and locked it up again, Rock said to Michi:

"If you don't mind, we'll switch to English since no one else here is fluent in Japanese."

"No problem." He said.

Finally, the five seats of the table were occupied and the people ate and drank. The ex-cop Michi was given beer, and after a few cans loosened up.

"Thanks guys, you're really hospitable. I'm sorry he acted this way with you two, but he is an asshole, he's like this with almost everyone."

"Is he the same with you?" Revy asked.

"No. Well he tried to get under my skin at first, but didn't succeed."

"Anyway, what happened in Japan so you had to flee?" Rock asked.

"Actually, it's his fault, but since we were paired I got dragged into this too. One night there was a call about a break-in into the apartment of one of the highest ranking police officers. We were sent to investigate. Upon arrival we find the officer, his wife and children were killed.

Second squad arrives and are perplexed to find us there as they had been told they were the first to get the call and respond. Anyway, we close up the scene and leave it to detectives to investigate. A week later we get called in the office for "additional statements". We turn to go, however we get a tip from one of my buddies in the police department that they are planning to arrest us, because the officer and his family were shot with a policeman's weapon, their reports show our team never got a call to the scene, and Tarou's fingerprints were everywhere in the flat. Tarou made one call and within an hour we were taking off with a small plane from some tiny airstrip.

He then confessed that he was recruited by Japan-based Italian mafia to spy on the officer and had been in that apartment multiple times before. So my guess is that the family was killed by the mafia, and we got a fake call for Tarou and me over the radio so we'd be there first. The circumstances were manipulated so that the mafia got rid of the officer and Tarou. Now we're wanted for homicide."

"Hmm. Sounds efficient." Dutch leaned back in his chair, pulling a smoke. "And how does Chang come into play?"

"This I cannot say. Tarou knew someone who knew Chang, and he decided to help pull us out and recruit us. I don't know nothing about the guy nor if he will have any kind of work for us." Michi replied.

"There's always work in Roanapur." Revy chuckled. "The only question is whether you have the balls to survive there."

"Cheers to that." Benny raised his can into the air, with Dutch and Rock joining.

Later Revy led Michi back to the cabin and locked him in. Dutch yawned. "Revy, could you steer the boat for couple of hours? I really need to lay down for a while."

"Sure. You can sleep as much as you want actually, I had a nap today so I'm not even sleepy. I'll wake you up if something comes up."

"Okay." Dutch stood up and stretched, turning towards his cabin.

"Benny, maybe you want to rest too?" Rock asked, already knowing the answer.

"No, I'm good. I sleep in that chair more than you all think." He laughed. "Besides, there are too many buttons for me to explain if I ever let you near the computers."

"Alright."

Everyone left, leaving Rock sitting alone at the table. Out of boredom he picked up the plates and tidied up, collecting the trash, and later lay down, but just like Revy he didn't even want to sleep. He stood up again and went to the cockpit.

Revy sat in the chair with her legs up on the control board. Her eyes were closed, but she wasn't sleeping. When he entered, she didn't even move a muscle. He sat on the ground besides her and leaned his back against the wall.

"Do you think someone will approach us until we get to Roanapur?" Rock asked, pulling a pack of cigarettes from his pocket and wincing from the pain he still felt in his hand.

"Probably not, we're already far away from Japan. But then again, I've never run from Japanese police, I don't know how eager they are."

"Well, they sure didn't care about me." He patted his pockets and remembered he doesn't have lighter. "Revy, do you have a light?"

She passed him a lighter. Rock lit his cigarette and returned the lighter together with a cigarette for her. She glanced at it, then bit it between her lips and lit the smoke.

"Rock. Why did you invite Michi to eat with us instead of leaving him with Tarou?" Revy turned her head to look at him. Surrounded by shadows, lit only by the dim light coming from the control board and his cigarette, his face with a black eye looked sinister, contrasting strikingly with the weakness he demonstrated just hours before.

"Mainly - to get back at Tarou. But I also thought it might be useful to pry out some information from him, and lucky for us he was more than glad to share." He shook the ashes of the cigarette into an empty can that lay on the ground, and rested his hand on his right thigh.

Revy scoffed at his reply, and pulled at the cigarette almost angrily.

Rock's voice lost the friendliness. "What's so funny?"

"How is this what you did _getting back at him_? For fuck's sake, this isn't school anymore, and definitely not kindergarten."

"You will see soon enough, Revy." Her reaction told him she wouldn't understand the effect of this psychological trick and only mock him again. Rock closed his eyes, not intending to reveal her his plan, not after what she said. His hand rose to his lips and he inhaled another smoke.

She scoffed at him again. "Maybe it's a good thing I didn't understand most of what he told you. If I knew, there was no fucking way I could justify your lack of actions." She crushed the cigarette into the ashtray and crossed her hands against her chest.

"Well, I myself am glad I managed to control my emotions and not do anything I would later regret, although I have to admit I was quite close to a breaking point." His reply was cold.

"Oh, now that's a sight I would have liked to see." Revy said slowly, with a tinge of sarcasm in her voice.

After shoving the cigarette in the can Rock stood up. "You know, Revy, I wonder if the only possible way for us to talk is to provoke, offend and insult one another over the way we act and live, just because we went through different shit and we don't understand how the other feels or thinks."

He opened the door, letting inside the sound of wind, crashing waves and buzzing motor, and stepped outside, only barely having heard her mutter "Who cares."

He didn't let it slide, and instead stepped over his offended pride. "I do." He said loud and clear, looking at her, even though her eyes were fixed on the black sky through the cockpit's window.

The next words that came out of his mouth were much more silent.

"For now."


	3. Chapter 3

\- III -

For most of the night, Rock lay sleeplessly on a bunk bed, angry.

He was pissed about being bullied by his school abuser again - something he never thought would happen to him as an adult. He was pissed that Revy had to witness that - it would have been one thing to talk about this, vastly different - to be humiliated in front of spectators. He was pissed at Revy - for looking down on him, again, without even a slightest attempt of understanding. Finally, he was pissed at himself - for having expected her to understand.

In the early hours of morning he woke up from shallow, restless sleep. A strategy began knitting itself in his brain regarding his plans for Satori, or Tarou - how he now called himself.

He didn't know much about Satori's adult life expect for what Michi had said. He knew, however, that he was emotional and impulsive, and his constant belittling of other people and bullying attempts meant that he was trying to assert his power over others. Perhaps he was abused and dominated by his parents or caregivers, meaning that if Rock would figure out what exactly he went through, he could quite easily behave in a way that the buried emotions inside him would resurface, and break him.

One strategy already worked. Rock asserted his power over him by locking him into a cabin, and later by isolation from the rest of the people. It was obvious Satori was affected - when Rock came to invite Michi to eat, Satori only blurted one single remark and then sat speechless, which was a very different behaviour than he demonstrated before being locked up - when he felt in control.

But that was only psychological war, and only possible if Rock had some power over him, which was unlikely to happen once they come to Roanapur. And besides, this was not enough to take back 8 long years of suffering Satori had caused him. However for further development of this plan he is going to have to gather more information, especially about Satori's future with Mr. Chang.

Satori wanted to be in power, however he is not going to have any other choice but to submit to Chang. Rock wasn't sure how Satori will behave and feel, and whether he is good at adapting to this kind of situation. What Rock was sure of was that Satori wasn't exactly loyal to his employer - as evident from the events in Japan. So, if by any chance Satori would become dissatisfied with Chang, he possibly would be inclined to betray him if given an alluring proposition. And Chang was not very kind towards betrayals.

Rock remembered a story Dutch told him that happened way before Rock joined the Lagoon.

Two of Chang's employees had been stealing drugs from the lab and selling them in a neighbouring town, which caused Chang a financial deficit as well as a conflict with the town's drug organisations. One day Dutch got a call from him, asking whether he knows any shark-infested sea areas somewhere near Roanapur. The next evening the torpedo boat was taking Chang and his men, alongside two thieves, to a bay where shark attacks were not unusual. Chang had two jars of blood in his hands, and his prisoners were suspiciously pale that night. When they reached the destination, Chang poured the blood in the sea to lure the predators, and within an hour they swam back to Roanapur while a group of sharks swam away with full stomachs.

This was a thought to hold on to.

* * *

Rock made himself a cup of coffee and went outside. The chilly morning weather soaked through his clothes, but he enjoyed the feeling after breathing the dry, oil-smelling air inside the boat. The rain had stopped, and sun was dimly peeking through thick clouds, illuminating the world through damp haze. Rock fished for a cigarette, placed one in his mouth, and only then remembered his lighter was back in Roanapur. He cursed silently and shoved it back into his shirt pocket.

The next moment a hand with a lighter extended towards him, as Revy silently joined him for a morning smoke.

He looked her in the eyes, but her gaze was fixed on the horizon. He pulled out a cigarette again, wondering whether this gesture of hers meant peace between them, once again. Rock took a hold of the coffee cup with his right hand, wincing from pain, and took the lighter with his left. Shielding the flame from the wind with his body to light the smoke he turned to face Revy, who shifted her gaze to him. His right hand was trembling, spilling some coffee on his shoes.

"There are some painkillers in our medicine cabinet." She said matter-of-factly.

"I drank them all yesterday. They don't work well for this pain though."

Revy sighed and threw her cigarette bud into the sea. In such wind it burned insanely quickly. She turned around and went towards cabins, leaving Rock feeling uneasy about their awkward way of communicating, which has been like this ever since the kidnapped girl incident. He followed her with his eyes, as always wondering what the hell is going on in her mind.

The rest of the journey was full of boredom. Rock didn't speak with Revy much; neither of them saw Dutch or Benny for more than 2 minutes as they came only briefly to grab a beer or heat up some food. Revy took up the initiative of checking on their passengers and even allowed them outside for several minutes to have a smoke. The whole time Satori maliciously eyed him, while Rock pretended not to notice; in fact his whole concentration was fixed on the two guys. If they were up to something and would manage to overpower Revy, he'd have to be the one calling out to Dutch before shit went down completely. However, nothing happened and towards the end of the day The Lagoon Company reached the entrance of Roanapur's port uneventfully.

Dutch slowed the boat down and Revy unlocked the cabin's doors, allowing for Satori and Michi to venture outside, now for good. Rock leaned against the railings of the boat, staring at now very familiar statue. Michi joined him.

"The first time I entered this port I thought the place was impossible to have existed on this earth." Rock said, while the boat slowly sailed past the Buddha.

"And now?" Michi asked.

Rock chuckled. "The same." He made a brief pause and asked. "Did you leave much in Japan?"

"Not really. My parents are dead, my grandmother lives with my aunt, I've recently broke up with my girlfriend. I left a cat, though. Hope the neighbour will take care of it once they realize I'm gone. What about you? In fact, I've never asked how did you end up in here."

"Perhaps some day you'll hear this over a beer." Rock said simply. "Too long of a story for what time we have left on the boat."

"Sounds like a good idea." Michi smiled, perhaps thinking it wouldn't hurt to have a friend in the situation he was in. "I definitely need some kind of introduction of how this place works, anyway."

"You'll grasp it or you'll get killed - either will be rapid."

Michi gave a nervous laugh, but his smile faded as Rock's face remained unchanged and stern.

"I'm serious. This is a town of thieves, murderers, smugglers, drug dealers. There are several mafia groups, all of them specializing in particular drugs, competing against each other. It's not unusual to see a blood bath in the middle of the day as they wage wars against each other."

"So it this like a constant urban war zone?"

"Naah, not exactly. The parties interested are trying to maintain the peace to avoid hurting their businesses. Bloodshed happens when someone decides to stir up the balance. One of such parties is Mr. Chang and The Triad. Another, equally powerful - Balalaika and Hotel Moscow."

"Balalaika?"

"Yeah. She was a whole Russian army fighting for her, all of them are deserters."

"She?" Michi looked surprised and intrigued.

"You heard me. But don't take her lightly just because she is a woman. Many who did are now resting at the sea bed."

"Wow." He exhaled. "That's surely interesting."

"Only at first…"

* * *

As the boat docked, the crew and two Japanese passengers jumped off the boat.

Dutch appeared from the cockpit, stretching his hands and neck.

"Benny, Revy, take care of the boat, refuel and all. I'm going to take Michi and Tarou to Mr. Chang." He turned to Rock. "Rock, come with me in case we need to translate stuff."

"Alright."

Four men crammed into Lagoon's car and took off to Chang's office. As they entered the room, he was waiting for them in his swivel chair, smoking. Surrounding him stood five of his men, eyeing them.

"Dutch… Rokuro." He extended a hand. "It is always a pleasure working with you." He took and envelope from under the desk and handed it to Dutch, who put it in his vest pocket.

He turned to others.

"And the gentleman you transported are Michi and Tarou, if I'm not mistaken?"

"Yes." They answered in unison. "My name's Tarou, this is my partner Michi." Satori stepped ahead, attempting to take the lead. "We were police." He said this with some pride in his voice, and waited for Chang to respond.

One corner of Chang's lips almost unnoticeably curved up.

"So I have heard…" He responded, not attempting to hide his interest in the man who spoke. "What were you doing… as a police?"

"Patrol unit." Michi responded in all honesty, suspecting Tarou might come up with something else. His partner turned his face slightly, giving a look at Michi, who looked at Chang.

"Who was the driver?" Chang inquired.

"I was." Michi responded.

"I see. Fine. Michi, since you have experience behind a wheel and I'm short of a driver, you'll have to get acknowledged with Roanapur's roads and rules. Or rather the lack of them." He smiled to himself. "Tarou, considering your height I see you as one of my debt collectors. Those men I can never have too many. You'll need to work on your languages, since no one here speaks Japanese and only a few - English. Both of you will be provided with rooms to live in my hotel nearby, food and some money for basic necessities, until you have paid your debt of transportation. Which hasn't been very small, to be frank." He smirked at Dutch, but in a friendly manner. "After this, you'll get paid salary and will be able to live how you please."

Rock didn't even blink watching Satori's reactions. The initial pride and arrogance were changed to confusion, worry and disappointment. Now his face turned red with anger he unsuccessfully tried to hide.

"I'm sorry, my English is not that good. I'm not sure if I understood you…" Satori said rather slowly, controlling his temper.

Chang turned to Rock. "Rokurou, would you mind helping us here a little?"

"Not at all." He turned to Satori and Michi, and repeated everything in Japanese. Michi nodded understandingly, having grasped everything at the first time, while Satori's face was warped. He was clearly unsatisfied with the prospects and stared angrily and Rock. Realizing he has no choice in the matter, he forced himself to push away the emotions, and turning back to Mr. Chang, nodded in agreement.

"Very well. Now, if you all gentlemen will excuse me, I have other matters to attend to." He stood up, putting out his cigarette. "Hao, could you show our new colleagues around the office and their rooms?" As the man nodded, he stepped towards the door, motioning with his head for Dutch and Rock to follow. "I will see you out."

As the three of them walked down the stairs with two guards following, Chang asked:

"How was the trip? Were there any pursuers?"

"No." Dutch responded. "Everything was calm."

"Oh, and Rock. Tarou was looking kind of angrily at you after your translation. Was this… the reaction to my proposal, or something else?"

"Not really." Rock responded, stopping in front of the car outside and turning to Chang. He suspected Chang will notice, and decided to cover for Satori. For the future's sake. So far his plan was assembling beautifully, and Chang being suspicious of Satori wasn't a good thing in this plan, not for now. "He and I used to be classmates. Didn't get along too well then neither now."

"Ahh, I see." Chang nodded, then gave a little laugh. "Funny small world, isn't it."

"Indeed."

* * *

After coming back to his apartment, Rock took a shower, slipped into sweatpants and a T-shirt, and fell into the couch. He was tired, both physically and emotionally, but in a good mood. His plan was knitting itself in his head, and so far all the small details were falling into their places by themselves.

The only thing annoying him right now was his right arm, throbbing with pain.

Ever since the "accident", how his family used to call it, the slightest hit to the arm would cause the pain to intensify. This would go away in several days, he knew well; however until it did it was difficult to shower, to eat, to smoke, to open a beer, to do anything. He popped his fourth tablet of Ibuprofen, chugging it down with beer, when someone knocked on the door.

It was Revy.

"Hey…" He looked at her questioningly, not having expected to see her again today. "What's up?" Usually her appearance in front of his door meant a new job.

She stood in silence, then sighed. "Can I come in?"

"Yeah." He moved aside, feeling stupid for blocking a doorway for no reason. "Want a beer?"

"Yep." She plopped on the couch and leaned back, reaching for something out of her pocket. Rock turned away to grab a drink from a fridge, and gave a bottle to her alongside an opener.

"I'm afraid you're gonna have to open it yourself." He said, drinking his beer with his left hand, having shoved his right into his pocket.

She looked up at him. "That's why I came." From the pack of cigarettes that she brought she grabbed a joint.

Rock gave a laugh. "Alright!" He sat down next to her. "Did you roll it yourself?"

She gave him a side look, putting the joint in her mouth and lighting it up. "It's not rocket science." After one deep inhale she passed it to him and leaned back against the backrest of the couch, closing her eyes. She exhaled after a long pause, and Rock followed.

Within a minute the pain was gone. He lifted his hand into the air and laughed, curling his fingers into a fist. Nothing, no pain. He pulled another one with a smile, giving it back to Revy, who was watching him closely while he smoked.

"Hold your breath for longer, Rock. Have you never smoked weed?"

He did as instructed before answering. "Once, in college."

Revy scoffed. "You sure had a boring life."

"It depends on what you call boring." He smiled at the dirty ceiling. The spot there looked like a giraffe all of sudden, making him giggle.

"Normal, I guess." Revy responded, watching Rock laugh over nothing. Weed wasn't affecting her the same way as it did most people, including him. It never made her laugh, only feel… lighter. And enjoy company, look for some connection, conversation, emotion; thus she never liked to smoke alone. Smoking alone made her feel sad.

"Aand… what do you call normal?" With his head reclined against the backrest, he rolled it to the left so he could see Revy blow a smoke.

"You know… Having a family, going to school, going to college, having a legal work."

He kept on chuckling. "Yeah… that is normal, I guess. But it doesn't mean it was boring!" He snorted with laughter. The fact that someone considered his life "normal" was hilarious.

"And what was not boring about it then?" She looked at him, squinting her eyes and with a small smile. Revy envied the laughter, but also enjoyed seeing other people in this state.

"Well…" He thought, taking a gulp of his beer. "Being called a ragdoll at school every single day for 8 years was certainly not boring. Or you know, getting assaulted every month or so by a group of bullies who would pull a knife and rip my clothes, or sometimes clothes _and_ skin - that certainly was not boring. It was exciting!" He laughed like a maniac.

Revy's eyes grew big. The joint sat between her fingers, suddenly forgotten. Everything fell into places in Revy's head as she finally understood the subtext of yesterday's conversation between Rock and Satori.

"But why, Rock?"

He leaned closer and reached for the weed. "I told you I had strict parents, didn't I? I mean my father broke my arm with a baseball bat after he found me with my pants down and a journal in my hand, that says something!" He said through laughter, while Revy stared intently. "And in school I had to wear my older brother's clothes, that were quite worn down. It cost nothing in comparison with buying new ones, and my parents considered themselves as savers. My pants were always too short since I happened to grow taller than by brother, and my shirts were yellowish instead of white, and my jacket was patched-up. And Satori, or Tarou, whichever you prefer, renamed me a Ragdoll!" He raised a bottle into the air, smiling with amusement, while Revy's eyes grew wider and wider with realisation of how well the man she thought she knew hid his past beneath a facade. "And after coming back home with my clothes torn, my father ordered my mother to patch it up and of course, sent me back to school with the same clothes. I would tell you how many times this has happened, but I lost count." Rock pulled another smoke and washed it down with beer. "Another very interesting experience I had in school was my part-time job. I distributed advertisement flyers in the street for cents, skipping my exam-prep classes, just so I could buy myself new clothes. And I succeeded, I finally got myself some new pants and a shirt, and the next day after school our client Satori pulled a knife on me again, only this time he wasn't so careful and cut deeper than just my clothes. I still have a scar." Rock gave her a joint and placed his beer on the table, freeing his hands. He lifted up his T-shirt, revealing muscular abdomen and lower part of his chest, where under the ribs on the right side was a white scarry line. "One or two ribs higher he'd have punctured my liver and I might've died. You know what my father did? Scold me, of course, for not being man enough to stand up to myself and my name. I told him my name was a ragdoll for a very long time now. Gave me a black eye for talking back. And oh, probably because of the skipped classes I didn't make it into college at my first try, condemning me to eternal disgrace of Okajima family." He took back the joint, that again simply smoldered idle in her hands, and inhaled. "You want me to go on, or am I boring you too much?" He laughed at his own sarcastic question. The weed made him look at these events with a rather different set of emotions, and it felt genuinely good to have a laugh at his life.

His eyes turned to Revy's face. She changed quite a number of expressions while he talked, but just as he finished, the hint of sadness was gone and what took its place was something all too well familiar. She was angry. Her eyes glared at him under furrowed eyebrows, but she didn't say a thing, simply stared. Finally the emotion got the better of her, and she pounded the beer bottle on the table and rose, turning around quickly and heading towards the door.

"Why are you angry? What the fuck did I say?" Rock was a little concerned, but still saw the situation as hilarious.

"Fine, storm off then! Don't answer me anything!" He shouted, just as she reached for the door handle. However, suddenly he realized this was unusual - she would never walk away angry and would always pull her gun on him instead.

The next second he changed his mind. He stood on the couch, took a step over the cushions and jumped from the armrest towards the exit, bumping against the door and closing the gap she had made. He consciously claimed back his body a second later, finding his forehead resting against a door and his hand holding her wrist.

"No, Revy." He turned his head, looking for her eyes. "I'm not going to let you go until you tell me what the fuck did I say to make you angry."

Her head was down, as so were her eyes, and only after blurting the line Rock realized that she will simply shoot him without much thought after this and leave. A fear washed over him, but it was again dulled by rising feeling of laughter inside his chest.

She shook away his hand, freeing hers, but to Rock's relief she did not reach for her pistols, simply stood there, hiding her eyes in complete silence.

He turned his body around and rested his back against the door, noticing the joint in his mouth that he was biting on for quite some time. He pulled a breath, and asked again.

"What did I say to make you angry, Revy?"

Her hands slowly curled into fists. Her fingers dug deeply into palms. Lips were pressed into thin line. Her chest heaved with deep breaths.

She spoke silently.

"I don't understand…"

Almost surprised at the ray of light Rock froze. "Don't understand what?..."

"I don't understand why… and how…" Her eyes rose to look into his. She was furious. "Why, WHY AFTER ALL YOU'VE BEEN THROUGH YOU TURN OUT LIKE THIS? DID YOU JUST FUCKING FORGET?" She took a step closer, forcing him instinctively back off, pressing himself against the door. "HOW DID YOU NOT TAKE REVENGE ON YOUR ASSHOLE PARENTS, ON YOUR FUCKING BULLIES? HOW COULD THIS NOT CHANGE YOUR FUCKING LIFE!?" One of the curled fists suddenly found its way towards his chest, hitting him with full strength just below his left nipple. The joint fell out of his mouth. "YOU'RE AN ADULT MAN, YOU WERE WORKING SOME WHITE COLLAR JOB PRETENDING NOTHING HAD EVER HAPPENED, YOU FUCKING PRICK!" Rock lost his breath over the pain, hunching over, when he felt another fist hitting his abdomen, making his eyes tear up. "WHY DIDN'T YOU FIGHT? WHY DID YOU LIVE LIKE THIS? YOU DON'T MAKE ANY FUCKING SENSE! WHY? WHY? HOW?" Rock noticed another upcoming hit, this time aimed at his eye since he was so conveniently bent in front of her. He knew he had to stop her, or else he would simply pass out from the pain. Gathering his last bits of energy he stopped her, grabbing her right hand, and as another fist came his way, catching her left. She wriggled, trying to free herself, cursing under her breath, but he managed to take a few steps and ram her against the wall, spreading her legs and placing his knees between hers to avoid a very possible ball attack. While she heaved angrily in front of him, Rock felt dizzy. He could barely stand straight, the lingering pain got the better of him and he slumped his forehead against her shoulder, his nose touching the fabric of her blouse.

"Revy…" He said slowly, with his eyes closed. He couldn't bring himself to be angry with her. Even through all of this pain he knew her reaction and her questions were all brought up by her own suffering. It wasn't about him. It was about her.

"I never knew a different way."

As her breathing gradually slowed and resistance in her arms weakened, he too slowly released his grip. "I never knew I had any other choice than those I made. I never knew. I never dreamt of any revenge. The world I lived in was made with different rules, and by those rules I had to swallow it all and continue; or else I'd never reach anything."

Having let go of her wrists, his hands rested on the wall, one at each side of her body. This lack of distance between their bodies… Without any thought his hands sneaked on her waist and slid around her back, pulling her body to his. He adjusted his face and buried his nose in the nape of her neck, breathing her scent. He murmured. "I never knew any other way, and neither did you. I know you think of me as weak for not fighting for my pride, but I wouldn't have survived fighting and shooting in the society I grew up at. To survive your circumstances, you had to be tough, strong, smart and quick. To survive mine you had to be good at staying silent and keeping your head low." There was something in her smell that made a tingling shiver run down his spine. The feeling of soft, warm skin under his fingers made him want to do more than just touch it, and while he pressed her body against his, his lips moved closer to her neck. His voice became low. Her skin got goosebumps. "It's fine if you think I'm weak. But don't say I'm normal… If I were, I wouldn't be plotting an assassination of Satori, you know…"

He was a fraction of a second away of tasting her skin.

"Rock, what the fuck are you doing?"

Another moment passed.

Suddenly he opened his eyes widely, discovering himself in this peculiar situation. He let go immediately and as he backed away, she lowered her fists that were rammed into his chest trying to push him off - which he didn't even notice. Her face was flushed. She wasn't angry, but confused.

Rock covered his mouth in embarrassment while she stared back with shock.

"I'm sorry."

He turned away quickly and returned to the couch, realizing there was no way she didn't notice his bulging pants. Just like in adolescence, the fact made his cheeks flush red.

"I really don't know what else to say."

Behind his palm he also hid a smile. He closed his eyes and chuckled silently, suspecting he's the only one finding the situation funny. He assaulted her like a sex-depraved pathetic teen, unable to control his urges the second he got close to a girl. Amazing, Okajima Rokurou. Amazing.

As she remained silent, he turned his head slightly to meet her eyes for any cues, but the only thing he saw was a strand of long, dark red hair disappearing behind his doors as she left in haste.

He shook his head with hilarious disbelief. It's not like this was the first time he caught himself gazing at her figure, it was in his genes. But to go as far…

That was some fucking weed.


	4. Chapter 4

\- IV -

The next day Rock was forced out of bed by a ringing phone. He got up, feeling heavy, and stumbled towards the line.

"Hello."

"It's me, Dutch. Rock, just wanted to say we're taking a day off, so you're free to do whatever you want. Tomorrow Benny and I will be doing some repairs so come to the boat in the morning in case we need help."

"Okay, boss. See you tomorrow then."

" _Mata nee_."

Dutch's attempt at Japanese made Rock laugh. Apparently he was in a good mood today.

Rock took out a cigarette and opened a window, facing a busy street. From the second floor of his apartment building he could see street vendors amidst buzzing mass of people. The smell of the food curled his stomach, and as he smoked his cigarette he tried to decide what he's going to have. Fried calamari were his pick.

After his meal Rock slid on the ground and stared into a wall, thinking about the his further actions. He reached for a pack of sticky notes laying on the table, and after several minutes of swirling the pen between his fingers he began writing.

Impulsive.

Disloyal.

Enjoys exercising power.

Enjoys feeling superior.

Chang's deal - no salary. How long?

Racketeering - will know most of Chang's clientele.

 **Chang's racket victims**.

Rock stopped to think for a second. Satori will be aware of people who are forced to provide Chang with money. This information might be useful for Chang's competitors.

He took the next sticky note and scribbled on it, then glued to the wall.

The paper said "Balalaika".

If she would employ him as a snitch, it would benefit Balalaika as she would get information; it would benefit Satori, as he wanted more money; it would benefit Rock by putting Satori in a risky position and Rock would be the only one who knew about this.

Now if Balalaika would agree, some russian guy of hers would have to hunt him down and offer to become a snitch. Though Satori might be impulsive, he's probably not stupid and would get suspicious since he doesn't have a clue so far about who Balalaika is and what kind of relationship she and Chang have.

It would be perfect, though, if Satori wanted to earn some side money _and_ wanted to work _for_ Balalaika, after having heard about her. So Rock needed to somehow plant an idea in Satori's head.

Of course, it was impossible to do this by himself.

The next paper was stuck to the wall, completing the scheme and suggesting the plan for the evening.

"Michi"

Rock looked at the chaos on the wall.

The corner of his mouth curved up.

* * *

Revy woke up as the sun irritatingly lit her face through a tiny gap of her blinds. She rolled on her side and curled into a ball, still dwelling in the aftermath of her sleep.

Her hope that she will feel differently after a night's sleep was in vain, as she couldn't push away the same thoughts that plagued her in the evening.

Rock made her feel the way she hasn't allowed herself to feel for quite some time now. Despite everything, her treacherous body reacted to a proximity of a man with a racing heart, faster breathing and warmth all over. Embraced in his hug, her body lost the strength. Her knees felt weak. Her body wanted him.

The last time she engaged in such endeavor was perhaps 3 years ago, after getting properly drunk in Yellow Flag and subsequently waking up in an unknown room next to a stranger with bad case of hangover. Though the hangover wasn't the worst part.

The worst thing was that dark and ugly feeling, stirring inside her. It was pain, although not physical. It was heaviness on her chest. The feeling of dirt, impossible to wash away. The shame, appearing when she looked in the mirror.

It made all the memories she wanted to forget resurface - and if in the evening her mind was blurrer by the alcohol in her veins, the next day paid her back generously. It punched her in the gut, threw her to the ground, and pressed down her body - all over again.

She knew she was a lost cause, ever since the rape, or even before that. Broken goods, who did not deserve not even a slightest glimpse of easy life, who was forever condemned to the scum part of this world, finding her only solace in nicotine, alcohol and shooting people. Her purpose in life was to enjoy these things while they lasted, and nothing else.

"Enough of this self pity shit." She told herself out loud and stood up just as her phone started ringing. It was Dutch, announcing a day off.

Revy grunted. Days like these, when ugly thoughts were racing in her mind, all she wanted to do was to shoot somebody to take her mind off of it.

She heated up some leftover takeaway food and ate it without even noticing the taste. Automatically and without any thought, she took a hold of her pull-up bar and began doing pull-ups, then hung herself for crunches. Equally dissociated, she took a shower and got dressed.

Only when she noticed dark marks on both of her wrists she came back to her senses. Her eyebrow rose up at both the strength of Rock's grip and at the fact that she didn't even feel it, wondering just how badly she hurt him for him to constrain her so fiercely. She remembered the force she hit him with... He probably had two nasty and very painful bruises.

Well, he kind of deserved that for pissing her off.

Revy slid her hands into leather gloves, upholstered her Cutlassess, went outside and sat on her Vespa, turning the ignition key. The bike started, buzzing loudly, and she turned towards the street going up to the church. She felt like gun-shopping. Or having a drink or two with Eda, while she was at it.

* * *

It didn't take a long time for Rock to locate Michi. A few questions around the hotel he lived and someone was quick enough to point out new japanese guys. It was a late afternoon and Michi had just came back from his duty of mapping Roanapur together with some other Chang's employee.

"Michi." Rock called to catch his attention.

The man turned his head and his eyebrows rose. "Rock! Hey man. What's up?"

He was juggling the keys of an old and battered car that stood behind him with open windows. It was hot and humid outside with just an occasional gust of wind, making the air hard to inhale.

"I have a day off, so I figured we might go for a beer, if you have time."

"Uh, I'm still supposed to do some driving with Narong." He motioned at the man reclining against a car, smoking. Narong, having overheard the conversation, came up.

"Hey, aren't you from The Lagoon? You know Roanapur's roads?"

"Yeah."

"If you want you two can drive around, and later do what you want. I have other shit to do you know."

Michi nodded, and turned to Rock. "What do you say?"

"Sure. I don't have anything better to do anyway, and since I'm usually the driver, I know the streets quite well."

The men got into a car with Narong hurrying down the street somewhere.

"Which part have you driven around already?"

"Northern and Central."

"Alright, turn left next. We're going west." Rock pulled a cigarette and lit it up. "So how is it so far?"

"It's crazy! Not one hour passes before I hear a gunshot, again. This is as different from Japan as it can be."

Rock laughed. "I know." His eyes darted to the red brick building. "This here used to be a military base." He pointed. "Now you can see illegal fights at the basement, buy some bread on the first floor, and on the second floor there's the Colombian mafia hideout."

"Okay." Michi looked around, memorising the place. "How long have you been in Roanapur?"

"Turn left here. It's almost 2 years now."

"That's a lot. Yet you look like an outsider with this office attire, I can tell already."

"Yeah, I know. But I just don't feel like changing the way I dress for the city to feel comfortable. I like dressing this way, and people are now noticing me for my face and not my tie."

"You've worked in an office before?"

"Asahi industries, Material procurement department. So business meetings and trips abroad. I got kidnapped by the Lagoon fellows because they needed a disk I carried. But then my boss decided to take care of the situation by sinking the ship with me inside it."

"Woah. Are you serious?"

"Yes. But we survived the attacks and Lagoon took me in."

"That's pretty harsh, man. It's hard to believe."

"I had a hard time processing it. But in the end I got colleagues who value my life more than Asahi, so it's not a bad deal at all." Rock answered simply. It was in itself amazing that his life in Roanapur was valued more than in safe and humane Japan. "Stop here for a sec, in front of this fence."

Michi parked at a large and mostly empty parking lot next to tall fence. Behind it stood a huge industrial building.

"This here is Balalaika's place of operations. She controls around 50 army veterans, who would be glad to die for her, all are extremely loyal and fearless. If something happens she would be able to summon even a bigger number of troops from somewhere." Rock's strategy begun.

"Sounds like she's very capable. Is she and Chang on equal level considering income and employees?"

"It's hard to say. I think Balalaika is more powerful, or maybe could become if decided to do so. But Chang has support from Hong Kong's branch, while she has support from somewhere else." Rock fell silent for a while. "However I did hear all Balalaika's men live in fancy apartments or hotel rooms." Rock bluffed. He didn't have slightest idea. "Anyway, it seems neither is willing to open arms against each other and they coexist here, in Roanapur, each tending to their line of work and maintaining peace for the mutual financial benefit."

"That's interesting. Are they really on friendly terms?"

"It depends on what you call friendly, I guess. Neither attacks the other, and if need arises they go to meetings behind closed doors. However if things went to shit for either, I believe the other wouldn't run saving the day."

"So competitors despite everything."

"Surely."

"Have you ever worked for Balalaika?"

"Many times. She often comes up with some jobs for us. Also used me as a translator on her trip to Japan."

"And Chang?"

"Does he hire us, you mean? Yeah, similarly. Let's go down this road." They cruised down a very poor looking street, littered with old buildings falling apart. "Now up the hill."

As they approached the church, Michi's eyebrow cocked up. "Church doesn't sit well in this town…"

Rock started laughing. "Yeah, I thought so too. Until I found out the nuns are arms dealers."

"Are you fucking kidding me?" Michi stared in disbelief while Rock looked attentively at a red motorbike, parked next to the church. It looked much like Revy's.

"Noup. Well these were the main objects in this part of Roanapur. Have you been by the port?"

"Only when you brought us here. Is there something I need to know?" Michi asked, flying a car through a red light, lunging to a side to avoid someone on a bike.

"Yellow Flag."

"What's that?"

"That's where we go for a beer. And ladies on the 2nd floor, if you're feeling like it."

"Oh, haha, okay. But I guess I need to leave a car near my hotel, I won't be able to drive drunk."

"Dude, you have no problem driving through a red light Roanapur-style but you're cautious about drunk-driving?"

"You have a point." Michi laughed. "I'm still adjusting to the lawless liberty."

"Oh there's laws here. They're just… very different."

"But… what about your morals, Rock? Was it so easy to come here and throw them away over your shoulder? I can't help but still think of myself as a cop, and this shit splits me in half."

"My morals never changed." Rock gave a small smile. Some part of himself was content about that.

"This make me wonder how are you still alive then."

"You're not the first to wonder…" He said, looking out the car window.

It wasn't easy.

* * *

Revy parked her red Vespa and stepped into the church. Somewhat ominous music playing in the background was overwhelmed by loud shouting female voices in the room behind the altar.

She silently approached the room and leaned against the wooden doorway. Eda and her superior Yolanda was in a heated debate while the priest in training, Rico, was running around them trying to appease the situation.

"Eda, I told you countless times - no drinking in the church!"

"But my room's way too hot for that!"

"Then don't drink, you fucking brat. Can't control your urges? I tolerate your drooling over every man you see but I will not tolerate sticky alcohol smelling floor in the church!"

Eda's eyes caught Revy in the doorway.

"Fine! I'm off!"

She stomped towards Revy and pulled her outside without a hello.

"Off where, Eda!? You haven't finished your duties!"

"That was some show." Revy chuckled, lighting a cigarette.

"Eh, the old hag wants to be really bossy."

"What was that about, anyway?"

"Rico broke a bottle of whiskey behind an altar when we were drinking and we forgot to clean it. She discovered it today, stepped on glass, hurt her feet, got mad. The usual. Anyway, what's up with you?"

"Wanted to look at some guns if you have new stuff." She pulled a smoke. "And have a drink."

Eda smiled widely.

"Let's go to Yellow Flag. You can come for guns later when that one isn't so steamy."

"Okay." Revy looked up at the bright, cloudless sky. It was scorching.

Eda inspected her. "Hangover?"

"Something like that. We had a job… spent more than 30 hours on the fucking boat with absolutely no action. Death by boredom."

"Rock didn't entertain you?" Eda sported her wicked grin, shoving her elbow into Revy's ribs playfully.

"Oh shut up, you idiot." She would be better off without his yesterday's entertainment for sure. "My bike's there."

Eda pulled out a set of keys from her pocket, turning towards another bike. "As if I don't have my own, ya monkey!"

"Suit yourself, bitch."

"I'm gonna get changed. Meet up there?"

"I'll wait, haven't finished smoking anyway. Unless you're planning jerking off for an hour before you go." Revy answered coldly, ignoring Eda's amused look.

"What a wide mouth you have, monkey. I might make it even wider by smashing in some of your teeth, you retard!" She shouted, entering a small building near the church.

* * *

As they entered the bar, a few sets of eyes looked at the weird pair, to which the women paid no mind. They headed straight towards Bao, straddled two of the bar's chairs, and asked for the usual.

"Rock's here." Bao said, filling Revy's glass.

Revy raised her eyes. Something unpleasant inside her lit up. The idea of drinking with Eda was that she could forget yesterday and forget Rock, and the plan just went to shit.

"Should I care?" She snapped back, not even bothering to look around, instead reaching for some bills in her pocket. "Leave the bottle, Bao. I'll pay upfront."

"Oyyy girl!" Eda teased. "Why are you putting up this teenager act?" She leaned closer to Revy, smiling. "I don't care, I don't care. Sure as fuck you do."

Revy realized the idea of drinking with her wasn't a good one after all. "Fuck off, Eda."

Revy took a generous sip of her drink, while Eda frantically looked around. As she started waving her hands, Revy figured she and Rock saw each other.

Knowing the guy, he will come to them in…

"Hey, Eda. Revy." Chills ran down her spine upon hearing his voice. She hated herself for that.

Revy shifted her head slightly, just enough for him to appear in her peripheral vision, but avoiding his eyes. "Hey."

Meanwhile Eda turned 180 degrees on her bar stool and placed her elbows on the counter, popping out her breasts for him. "Hello, loverboy. What's up?"

"I'm here with this new guy, Chang's employee. He's from Japan, too. I thought maybe you two want to join us?" Upon hearing his answer Revy turned her head slightly. She had the urge to look around and see if there was Michi or Tarou/Satori at the table and understand what kind of bullshit Rock was getting himself into, but she stopped herself.

After what happened yesterday… It wasn't her business. She doesn't have to care or get all worked up about that prick.

"Lessgooo!" Eda grabbed Revy again, pulling her down the chair and towards Rock's table. She barely had the time to snatch the bottle and hissed back. "Let me go, idiot! I'm coming, I'm coming!"

Michi was curiously eyeing the whole commotion before they came to the table.

"Hello, Revy."

"Hi."

Despite her resolution to forget about what Rock said yesterday, she couldn't help but silently wonder what exactly was Rock doing now. Knowing him, Michi was here not for a friendly beer. He was definitely a part of his plan, one of many pieces of his puzzle.

"This is a nun Eda from the Church of Violence." Rock introduced. "This is Michi."

Eda grinned. "Hey there. So you're also Japanese like Rock, huh?"

"I'm am, yeah."

"I think I have a thing for these dark brown eyes of Japanese men…" She squinted her eyes, smiling.

Michi blinked several times, visibly confused about two facts not yet connecting in his mind. A nun. Hitting on him.

Revy silently finished her glass, grabbed a bottle of rum and refilled it, her eyes never leaving the level of the table. She vaguely listened on what the three in front of her are talking about, but her thoughts circled only him.

It was still hard to chew the fact that this man sitting next to her went through shitty life himself, but the weirdest part was how he turned out. There's no wonder Revy misjudged him - in his case the white book cover hid some dirty and ugly pages. She wondered how well did she actually know him… Was he a genuine good guy - who she initially thought he was - or a double-faced manipulative bastard?

Perhaps he was a bit of both. But what really mattered to Revy was who he was with her - just yesterday he spills his guts, sincerely, and later on tried to grind her against the wall.

If she had been protecting and looking after a liar and manipulator, the silver bullet is about to be seated in his brain.

She gulped down the rum. It was making her feel just a little easier, and after all this is what she came here to do. Just as she finished pouring herself another glass, Rock turned his head to look, and he lingered. She lifted her eyes. He glanced at the nearly empty bottle, then back again to her face. His look didn't give away a thing, she had no idea what is happening in his thoughts. But Revy didn't care. She was pissed. Another glass went down her throat like water.

"Oy girl!" Eda suddenly turned her attention to Revy. "Leave some for me, ya greedy bitch!"

Revy have a half-smile, filling Eda's glass. "You were too fucking busy to drink, ya testosterone-depraved maniac."

This made Eda laugh rather than answer, while Revy rose up to her feet, stumbling and holding on the chair.

"I'm going."

She grabbed the nearly empty bottle, turned towards the exit and chugged it all down while walking. Rock looked back. Her stride was far from straight.

"Eda, how's she getting home?"

"On her bike, I bet, loverboy." Eda grinned.

Rock gave it a thought. Then took his beer and finished it bottoms-up in haste.

"See you guys."

With a fast step Rock easily caught up to Revy, who was walking along Yellow Flag's wall. Her hand was propped against the wall for every step she took, making it very clear it's hard to walk.

"Revy!"

She didn't react, so he sped up a little.

"Revy." He grabbed her forearm attempting to stop her. Feeling someone's fingers on her skin, she swung the empty rum bottle towards him without any questions asked. Rock backed away just in time to avoid a hit. Her eyes widened a little when she recognized him.

"Don't touch me! Leave me alone." She continued her stumble.

"You're completely wasted, Revy. I'm not leaving you alone or letting you drive."

She largely ignored his words and continued her way along the wall, mumbling silently to herself: "Better wasted'n alone that with ya and raped."

Rock froze for a second, registering her words. As the realization of the meaning sank into his brain, the anger spread into his chest like a volcanic eruption. Whatever logical thoughts he had in his head were now replaced with one infuriating discovery - she thought that yesterday he intended to rape her.

His fingers clenched into a fist and teeth clenched together inside his mouth. He took a deep breath, almost shaking with the anger and tension. He exhaled, trying his best to control himself.

He walked up to her again and stood in front of her, not letting to pass. Then asked silently.

"What did you say?"

Revy didn't even look at him, only tried to make her way towards the bike, shoving the bottle against his chest. "Let me pass, idiot."

"WHAT did you say back then, Revy?" His muscles shivered with tension. His jaw hurt. He wasn't breathing, he was heaving.

Revy finally looked at him, noticing the change. There was something dark in his look even her drunk mind realized she didn't like very much.

"Did I hear you wrong, or did you say I would rape you?" He asked slowly.

She responded provocatively. "What if I did?"

There was a constant loud chatter and clinking glasses sounds coming from the inside of the Yellow Flag. The street around them buzzed with action. People were talking, cars and bikes were driving and signaling at each other without a stop. Over this chaos it was impossible to hear the sea waves, even though the port was nearby. Seagulls screamed.

Yet in the 1 square meter between them the atmosphere was void of any sound.

With a loud disgruntled shout he grabbed the bottle from her hands and smashed it against the wall of the Yellow Flag. As the pieces of glass flew and fell between their feet, he yelled.

"FUCK!"

He walked away hurriedly a few meters from Revy only to come back in a few seconds. His right hand dripped with blood. She stood silently, eyes wide. It felt like all the booze dissipated from her mind instantly.

"Revy, what the fuck! What the actual fuck? Seriously, you thought that… you think I could… oh my fucking god." He walked around frantically, running fingers through his hair, loosening up his tie, rubbing his eyes with his fingers. Finally he settled and stood in front of her again. This time he had a pained expression on his face.

"I really thought you knew me better! Did you seriously think that I would rape you? That I could do that? That I would enjoy raping anyone, for that matter? That I would enjoy hurting and humiliating someone like this? Really?"

Revy pressed her lips together, surprised by his emotional eruption.

"I am sorry, again, for ambushing you like this yesterday! I really am sorry, I did not intend that."

"Quit your shouting, Rock." Revy looked at his flustered face. It was now really difficult to think he did that on purpose. He seemed sincere, again. She furrowed her eyebrows, completely confused about the guy. "Forget about it."

He still felt offended by her words, but he knew this is as close to an apology as he can expect. He took a deep breath and sighed. Suddenly the pain in his right hand appeared and he took a look at his bloody fingers, flinching as he took out a piece of glass from his skin.

"Give me the keys, Revy. I'll take you home."

"I can drive."

"Give me the keys."

After a staring contest she gave up.

She fished it out of her pocket and placed it in his hand, as they walked towards her red bike. She stumbled, tripping on something, and Rock got a hold of her. He threw her hand over his shoulders, holding her by her waist for balance. This time his touch was not followed by defensive attempts.

"I did feel you getting a boner yesterday, Rock…" She said in a way trying to justify why she called him a rapist.

He shook his head, helping her on the bike, and answer a minute later.

"Revy. I am sorry for assaulting you, but I will not apologize for getting… hard." He almost mumbled the last part. "You're a beautiful woman, what did you expect."

She looked at him following the unexpected compliment, but as he sat on the bike in front of her, she couldn't see his eyes. However, as he turned his head towards her slightly to tell her to hold on, Revy could swear his face was flushed red.


	5. Chapter 5

**Important notice! - this is a second version of the chapter.**

The previous have been deleted. If this is the first time you're reading this, ignore the notice and carry on. If you've already read chapter 5, I've changed only the last section of this chapter and I'd suggest you re-read it.

Reason: I wrote something that was off-character for both Rock and Revy. Although it felt okay upon writing, later on I realized I have backed myself into a corner from which there was no way out. I am sorry and I hate to do this, but it has to be done.

\- V -

A week has passed since Rock talked to Michi; 8 days after their arrival to Roanapur.

Michi and Satori worked in different areas of Chang's business and lived in separate rooms, meaning they probably didn't see each other every day. However, considering it was the same hotel they resided and the fact that they used to be partners and colleagues, there was a substantial chance Michi and Satori had already had a chat.

What Rock had been feeding Michi was mostly basic information about Balalaika and Roanapur's power dynamics, sprinkled with a subtle hint here and there about her abilities, charisma, mentality, respect of her subordinates, financial status. What impression Michi was left with was of course dependant on his own views of life, and this Rock couldn't account for fully, but he did seem intrigued and that was a good thing.

Thus, speculating the two had some time to converse, they definitely spoke about how each was doing and what they were expected to do, followed by some useful or interesting facts about the city they now live in. And it's difficult to talk about Roanapur without speaking about Chang and Balalaika. She's a big figure, so Rock guessed Satori would have already heard the name, but Michi hopefully - there was no obvious reason to withhold such information - told Satori some new, "inside" info about the Hotel Moscow. How the information was told and how it was interpreted, again, was difficult to predict, as there was a significant human error of transmission involved. However, taking in mind all possible scenarios, 2 out of 4 were significantly improving the chances of a successful plan:

Michi relays positive/intriguing information. Satori is preconditioned to be susceptible to Balalaika's approach and offer.

Michi relays neutral information. Satori now has knowledge about Hotel Moscow's power and realizes the seriousness of Balalaika's offer. Considering his traits (seeks power, disloyal, tempted by money), the chances are better he will agree.

Michi and Satori had not spoken or Michi didn't say anything about Balalaika. Satori might be suspicious and refuse out of caution. However, considering his traits (impulsiveness, disloyalty) he might decide to hear out Balalaika and agree to come to her for a chat. If he does, he will most likely be persuaded to agree.

Michi tells Satori he met with Rock and received such information. Satori would feel betrayed (as Michi preferred Rock's company over Satori's), might realize the information about Balalaika might be a trap, refuses her offer immediately.

The first two scenarios were acceptable. The third was not the worst either - it would only mean Rock's effort with Michi was in vain. The fourth situation would make things difficult as it meant spying plan impossible; Satori would lose trust of Michi and would become very suspicious of Rock. This meant he'd have to think of a new plan.

However, Rock knew that Michi himself thought of Satori not as a friend, but more as an annoying colleague. Michi probably understands that telling him about Rock will most likely provoke anger. If he wanted to avoid unnecessary conflict - and he seemed the type - Michi was much more likely to withhold certain unimportant information, namely the source of his knowledge.

Taking all of this into consideration, the chance of success was not 50 nor 75%, but more like 90. Maybe 87.5.

"Rock, whatcha dreaming about? You've been staring into a wall for 10 minutes."

Revy looked at him attentively. She had been looking for most of those 10 minutes, a journal in her hands a mere disguise.

"Oh, nothing much." He answered with a small smile, pulling out a pack of cigarettes from his shirt pocket. Her look was inquisitive, she saw he lied. He might tell her if they were alone in the room, however Dutch sat by the kitchen table, drinking coffee and reading a book.

"Just daydreaming." He reached for a lighter on a coffee table, his gaze shifting to and lingering on Revy's legs for half-second longer than what would be considered just an accidental glance, yet another half-second short for it to be called a stare. He didn't dare to raise his eyes to check whether she noticed that.

She placed the journal on the table and stood up, stretching and looking around.

"Has anybody seen the car keys? I'm going to buy some food, I'm hungry."

"I'll have whatever you order too." Dutch responded.

"I think Benny is doing some repairs on it so the keys are probably with him." Rock said, standing up. "I'm going with you. I have some matters to attend to. Dutch, we're... "

"Yeah, yeah, just don't take long. If the job comes up, I won't be able to find you."

"Alright!"

Within 5 minutes the car was cruising down the hot and humid streets of Roanapur with Revy behind the wheel. The leather seats of the car were scorching their skin and the air was too thick to breathe. Even the breeze, coming through the open windows, wasn't refreshing the slightest.

Rock didn't seem to pay attention to the surroundings, again lost in thought, eyes wandering on dirty streets, suspicious people, stray cats, sorry palm trees.

"Revy, can you take me somewhere? You can leave me there and pick me up after you bought the food."

She took a good look at him, not at all amused by the ambiguity of his request. "Somewhere?"

His unwillingness to be straightforward became clear with the next word he said.

"Balalaika."

Revy stayed silent for a minute. "Rock…" She pressed her lips. "What the hell are you planning?" She didn't like this at all. He was playing not with fire but with gunpowder.

Rock looked at her, wondering how is she going to react if he tells her. Understand and let him do what he wants, or try to talk some sense into his risky gamble?

"I plan to offer Balalaika to employ Tarou as a snitch."

Revy slowly raised her eyebrows. Then a smile appeared on her face, followed by a laugh.

"Sorry to break it you Rock, but this doesn't sound like a very good plan to get someone assassinated! Everyone knows Balalaika would never hire anyone else except russian vets."

"He doesn't."

"Well, okay, but do you think Balalaika will be interested? He's a small fish. What could he tell her worthy of her interest?"

"For now, it's Chang's extortions. I'm aware it's not the most interesting intel as it would be easy to gather information about that even without any inside contact. But if he makes a career at Chang's, he might become very valuable."

"And what will you tell Balalaika to convince her he's worth the wait?"

Rock smiled. She was asking all the right questions. "I don't know. This deal might end up with her doing a favour for me."

She sighed, stopping at the red light at a busy intersection. "And you're willing to get yourself into such deal with Balalaika, for fuck's sake? It's like you're deliberately choosing the most difficult way. If you want him dead Rock, I can shoot him. You could've just asked…"

"I wouldn't say I'm willing. I'd rather not, but if it comes to this, I'm prepared and fine with this."

"I'm not fine with this!" Her voice has risen. The traffic light have turned green. "She already had you at gunpoint once, I reckon it wasn't enough? This is too much risk, Rock!" Some cars behind them began horning. "Or do you think I will always be with you to shoot everyone down for you!?" Someone shouted something from the car behind them, and Revy pulled her gun, directing it to the car and firing a few bullets without looking, before she turned back to Rock, furious.

"Revy, you said I make no sense, remember?"

"What?"

"Back at my place… You didn't understand how could I go on living as if nothing has happened, not seeking revenge." He took a deep breath. "Well, I've thought of a way now. And I want to do that, to achieve revenge in my own way, so that it makes sense to me." Rock said, looking her straight into the eyes. Although his expression seemed usual at the first glance, the determination in his eyes was fierce, piercing her. There was no way to make him change his mind.

Revy sighed, pressed the gas and turned left.

With the next words coming out of his mouth, his voice became more gentle. "As for you, Revy…" Her grip of the wheel tightened. "Thank you. For looking out for me and for offering to end all of this for me. But this time I have to do this by myself."

She turned her head away slightly, subconsciously hiding from his look. Balalaika's headquarters were already visible down the road. She pushed away the thoughts from her mind, puzzled about what to make of this conversation.

The car slowed and stopped by the gates.

"Thanks." Rock opened the doors and stepped out. He checked the clock and leaned by the open car window. "Can you pick me up in 30 minutes?"

Revy was staring straight in front of herself, her lips pressed into a thin line. "Are you sure about going alone?"

Rock smiled, grateful for her concern. "It's going to be fine." He tapped the car's roof and turned towards the guards.

* * *

"Well, Rock… To what do I owe the pleasure of having you?"

The Russian sat in her office chair, surrounded by a cloud of her cigar smoke. She placed one leg on top of the other, and tilted her head, her eyes squinted, intrigued.

"I have a proposal to you." Rock replied. He took note of the two other men in the room, Balalaika's right hands, memorizing the faces of people who will soon become aware of his intentions.

"I want to offer you to employ one of Chang's men as a spy."

Balalaika wasn't too impressed, the only reaction Rock noticed was a slight elevation of her eyebrow. "Convince me."

"The man in question is new - he came to Roanapur a week ago from Japan. He's indebted to Chang and as of now receives no salary. He was appointed to work as an extortionist. If you employed him as a snitch, you'd gain information about Chang's racket objects, and I suspect he will make himself a career rather quickly and will become familiar with more sensitive and important information."

"And why would the man in question agree to work for me, considering the fact that everyone knows what happens to those who betray Chang and that I only hire people I personally know?"

"He doesn't know that, at least not yet. He will agree, because he is short of money and because he has jumped ship in his previous work when offered more money. I also made sure he _will want_ to work for you."

The corner of her lips curled up with the last sentence. She was amused.

"And who is this man to you, Rock, for you to be taking such good care of his financial status? What do you gain?"

"I know him way back from Japan. Let's say we have a past."

Balalaika smiled widely, then laughed.

"So you're offering me to hire some shady guy I do not trust and spend my money on him in order to put him in a compromising situation for your sake; at the same time risking my stable relationship with Chang?" She leaned forward, placed her elbows on the table and rested her chin on entwined fingers, looking straight into his eyes. "You have to give me something more, Rock."

"Considering your relationship with Chang - I've witnessed more than one interaction between you two to tell you're not exactly friends. I have no doubt Chang might try to spy on you, if he hadn't already." Rock leaned forward as well, consciously demonstrating he was not about to give up. "However, I cannot assess of what use he will be to you, I can only speculate. It's up to you to decide if it's worth taking this risk and if it's worth keeping him until he rises closer to Chang, but the way I see it - you're risking only some money and might gain more valuable information."

"And... if I decide it's not?"

"Then I will ask you to do it anyway, for me."

"Oh." Balalaika smiled again. "In exchange of..?"

"Of whatever you will need from me."

"Hmmmm." She leaned back, crossing her arms under her breasts. A smile revealed she was enjoying the situation.

"Allright, Rock. Let's make a deal. I will offer him to become a snitch, and I will pay him salary depending on what he can gather - to keep him motivated. However, until I decide otherwise, he is mine. If he proves to be a useful informant, I will keep him around for as long as I want. Only when, and if, I decide I'm done with him, you can step in and expose him or have Two Hands kill him or do whatever you want with him." She clipped a new cigar and put it in her mouth. "However, if he turns out to be useless piece of shit, you will owe me." As a new cloud of smoke dispersed between them, Balalaika asked. "Do we have a deal, Rock?"

Rock didn't hesitate. This was pretty much the outcome he anticipated, and he was ready to pay the price, if necessary. "We do."

"Good." She stood up and offered her hand. Rock extended his palm and shook it firmly, exchanging deep, intrusive looks.

"Now tell me everything you know about him."

* * *

The Lagoon's car was parked in the shadow of the fence. Leaning against the car's hood, Revy stood, smoking, her eyes never wandering off from the gates.

35 minutes had passed after they split. She cursed under her breath, pulling on her cigarette, already clutching the pack for a new one.

Finally, a familiar white-shirted man stepped out of the russian territory. He walked towards her leisurely, with his hands shoved into his pockets, a small smile playing on his lips, as he was enjoying this hot day. He stopped right in front of her, staring at what he counted to be 8 cigarette butts on the ground.

"So?" Revy asked impatiently, ignoring his questioning look of her smoking habits.

Rock initially reached for a cigarette from a pack she was holding, but stopped midway and snatched a lit cigarette from between her fingers, leaving her with a surprised look. His eyes were smiling, and as he bit down the cig that was between her lips just seconds ago, the look he gave her was… enticing.

"She's in, Revy." He closed his eyes, exhaling the fume and loosening up his tie. "Gimme the keys… I feel like driving."

She watched him closely - his deep, impenetrable, smiling eyes, the upturned corners of his lips, the straight and firm stance. The person standing in front of her only looked like the Rock she knew, but he was radiating something unfamiliar and powerful. She couldn't understand fully how that made her feel, but among some negative emotions she could sense within herself a certain curiosity.

* * *

Revy gazed at the street below her, leaning her elbows against the windowsill of Lagoon's office window. The street was mostly empty, but the buzzing sound of the nearby market still made it through cicadas' songs. The radio in the room silently played The Doors.

Behind her, stretched out on the sofa, Rock slept. He lay down for a nap right after their meal, and slept like a log until it got dark and everyone but her left. Revy lingered. There was something enjoyable in the blend of the night sounds that made her feel peaceful and in no hurry to get home.

Suddenly she heard some shuffling behind her and glancing over her shoulder she saw Rock rubbing his head, trying to shake off the last bits of sleep. He yawned and looked around, noticing her silhouette framed by the street lights in otherwise dim room.

"What time is it?" He murmured.

"Dunno." Her gaze wandered off into the street again. The bakery down the street had the lights off already. "Ten, maybe."

He got up and stretched, then slowly walked to the fridge, picking up two bottles of beer. Soon he appeared by her side and Revy moved a little, making some space for him. After a few minutes he spoke.

"It's kinda weird seeing you so calm and chill." As an answer she scoffed.

"Usually if nothing's happening you lie restless on the couch, rocking your feet like an angry cat wags her tail."

Revy smiled at the comparison, looking at the bottle.

"Although... you don't remind me of a cat. They are way too lazy." He took a gulp of his beer, thinking. "If I had to name an animal like you, that would probably be a honey badger." Revy's smile transformed into a short laugh. "All they do is look for trouble. They fight whatever is moving, whether it's a lion or a venomous snake." He glanced at her smile. "You know what happens when they get bitten by a snake? They fall asleep for a few minutes, and then wake up as if nothing has happened. And what happens when you get hit by a bullet? You ignore it and go beat up whoever shot you. You're a honey badger." By the time he finished Revy was laughing, her voice stirring into the street sounds.

This was a rare moment to hear her laugh from innocent joke like this. She laughed a lot, but usually it was a sadistic, fired-up, excited laugh before gunning someone down.

"You know, the first time I met you I was in awe of you." Revy gave him a curious look, but before she said anything, he continued. "I have never seen anyone so skilled with guns, two at the same time to be exact, let alone a woman. Guns and women didn't exactly went hand in hand in my brain."

"What's this, Rock, confession time?" She smirked.

"More like reminiscence of how I once saw the world. Back in Japan, the only time I saw a girl shooting was at winter Olympics. If a shooter lady would run down this street firing a rifle now, I wouldn't even raise an eyebrow. All the women I know here in Roanapur know how to handle a gun."

"It's that or spreading your legs in the alley."

"Hm. A lovely prospect."

Silence filled the space between them for a few seconds, before Revy disturbed it.

"By the way Rock, if you ever got a girl off the street I seriously suggest you get checked at the doc's. Very few of them are clean." She said matter-of-factly, sipping her bottle.

Rock stuttered. "I… ahh..." He was grateful for the darkness hiding his flushed face as he was grappling for words. "I have never… used such services."

She looked at him and laughed. "Such services?" She sneered. "What are you fretting about? You're like a teenager whenever the topic comes up." Her eyes squinted slightly. "Are you a virgin?"

Rock shifted his eyes away, staring into the distant buildings of the city. He didn't feel particularly confident speaking about sex.

"No."

"Then what is it?"

"Nothing! Most people are not very comfortable talking about this, and I'm among them. If I asked you about your experiences would you be so glad to share?"

Only after finishing his sentence Rock realized what has he done turning the topic to her. He watched her face carefully as her reaction was about to reveal how this conversation might continue.

She thought for a second. "I think I wouldn't care too much." Her gaze shifted to the street, where a couple of men hurried carrying heavy bags.

Rock spent building up the courage before the words finally slid out of his mouth.

"Then why don't you?"

Revy's eyes rammed into his questioningly.

"So you don't like to share, but still wanna hear mine? You will not like the story, Rock. You're better off not knowing."

"You don't need to shield or protect me from everything like a mother, Revy." Having finished his beer, he pulled a pack of cigarettes, and offered one to her. "If you don't wanna tell because it's too personal, you can just say it out loud like I did."

She obviously didn't enjoy the commentary he threw at her, but after a moment of lingering took the cigarette nevertheless. As he rolled the lighter's wheel and their faces lit in an orange glow, Revy responded. "Fine, then." She blew out the smoke, her voice hoarse and laced with malice, her words slow.

"Back in NY, the cops took me off the street for looking suspicious. They threw me in the van, took me to the station. There I took punching and kicking as a boxing bag as they tried to make me talk - they thought they could get to my parents to give them money to "bail me out". Joke's on them, since my mother was nowhere to be found since I was born and father was passed out drunk. So since that didn't work out for them, one of them decided I can still be useful at least for one thing - and that was how my first time went."

She pulled a smoke, never turning her eyes away from him, observing his reactions, looking for a regret in his face. It was as if she could say "I told you you were not gonna like it" later.

Rock pressed his lips together hard, but he wasn't surprised. Considering the reactions she exhibited it was easy to see the man's touch was threatening. He suspected it for some time already. What was surprising was the fact how she spoke about this. It seemed it was said aloud only as a mean to scare him, a spoiled naive japanese kid. There was nothing personal in her story, no suffering, no pain, just plain facts, just a story. It seemed like remembering these events didn't hurt her one bit.

Not getting the horrified and repulsive reaction she expected, Revy continued.

"Stop me when you've had enough." The cigarette burned between her lips, where a sly smile played. "Women prison. You know what sex-depraved bitches can think of? Oh, boy." She shook her head slowly with a smile. "It would be easier to name what they didn't use in their games. They put me there as soon as I turned 18. And needless to say, being the youngest one, I became their bitch. I was forced to spend a long-ass time between women's legs until I managed to run away from that place. Sometimes, they'd stick some rather interesting objects inside me. I guess the one that really stuck in my memory was a chair's leg. Imagine having wood splinters _inside_ you."

Rock's eye twitched. Revy's eyes burned sadistically. She did her best to torment his imagination and at this point he really wanted her to stop. However the fact that she was able to talk about this so dissociated, as if this was just something she had seen in a movie, was terrible and yet fascinating. She might be spilling her biggest secrets, but she's not truly opening up. So he looked at her, silent, waiting for more, waiting if eventually he will see something personal behind a facade.

Revy delivered. In detail, several of her hookups here, in Roanapur. Alcohol, bar, curiosity. Hated how it felt, protested, but the guy wouldn't let her go until he was finished. Next guy - all the same, except she made sure to have a gun besides her ready and made him stop.

Rock was silent. His thoughts raced. His head felt like a bloated balloon filled with some foul air.

His mind couldn't process everything at once and yet tried to divide the thoughts between the horrors of her life and the hardness of her shell.

He didn't even know what to say. To express compassion? At the slightest hint of pity she will get mad. To apologize for the whole men gender? That will do no good. To say he understands? How possibly could he.

One could think her lack of emotions and dissociation was a result of her being in terms with what happened. This is what she wanted him to think, perhaps this was what she genuinely believed herself. And yet, Rock had a clear feeling that was not the case. Throughout her story, she never mentioned the word "rape". Not even once. Did she have it in her thoughts, at least?

The lingering silence called for his response.

"You sound so… unaffected, Revy. It felt like what you told me was just a story, not your story, not your personal experience." He told her the obvious observation, keeping the interpretation to himself.

Revy's eyes expressed disappointment about the unsuccessful attempt to shock him. Hearing his composed and rational question, she felt almost bored.

"Are you saying I thought this all up? Because it doesn't sound personal? What did you expect Rock, for me to burst into tears? It's just more of the same shit that happened in my life. You move on and continue living. I would be long dead if I wasted my time crying and pitying myself." She sighed. "Besides, when you told me your past, you did that while laughing. How is that any different?"

Rock fell silent again, again getting the lesson of her way of thinking and living. Completely closed-up from the outside world, pushing everyone away so nobody sees what's under. She might trust him enough to tell what might as well be her biggest secret, but manages to do that so that it doesn't seem like a big deal for her. She had to be bearing so much pain, and yet she would never consciously allow anyone to notice. Probably not even herself.

"Have you ever told this to anybody?"

"No." She answered instantly.

"Why?"

Without giving it much thought, she shrugged her shoulders.

"No one bothered to ask."

Her words lingered in the air between them for too long as he thought about her answer.

Meanwhile Revy looked at him as if they just finished a conversation about the weather.

"I'm gonna go. Lock up the doors."


	6. Chapter 6

\- VI -

Rock had learnt to read people when he was still a small child. It was a basic survival skill at home with his parents, refining it made life at school much easier, and finally perfecting it helped him land a leading job at Asahi. Noticing subtle reactions, glances, body language, hidden emotions, change of voice tone; getting to know weak spots, triggers, motives. The full arsenal of psychological puzzle pieces allowed him to do well in Roanapur too, persuading others to behave in a certain way, talking his way out of trouble and avoiding unnecessary conflicts.

Or so he thought until Revy's fisted hand flew towards his cheek.

He ducked just in time before someone pulled him sideways.

"I'm going with Rock, bye bye, see ya later, tchuss!" Benny dragged him out to Lagoon's office towards the car, snatching the keys from Revy's fingers.

The moment he was sure she won't hear them, Benny turned to Rock with squinted eyes, his voice suspicious.

"What the hell was that?"

Painful expression appeared on his face as he put a cigarette in his mouth. "I really wish I knew." To think she'd get so worked-up about a tease about her driving… "Was it really that bad? What I said?"

"Well, preferring to die by her gun rather than her driving does sound a little… strong. But I mean three out of four apparently understood it was a joke. Besides, she wouldn't normally react this way. Her driving is not bad and she knows it." Benny sped through a blinking green light towards the church, thinking. A delivery of explosives to some ship was ordered, and they had to pick them up from the nuns. "Did something happen between you two?"

Rock shrugged his shoulders. "Nothing. I guess." He replayed yesterday's conversation briefly in his thoughts - she didn't seem angry when she left. However, his friendly "Hey" this morning did not receive any response and she did give him a few irritated looks basically whenever he spoke today. But he couldn't pinpoint the reason behind that. "We simply spoke a little yesterday, then went to our flats. Maybe she's PMSing or something."

"Before you came this morning, she was completely normal with us." Benny gently pressed the brakes until the car stopped right beside the annex of the church.

"Hey Rock… was yesterday's conversation, by any chance, personal?"

Rock looked at him curiously, wondering what was he trying to say. Did he know something about Revy's past? Although she said she never told her story to anyone.

Before he had the chance to respond, the doors of the building opened.

"BOYS!"

Eda's flirtatious silhouette appeared in the doorway.

"Hi, Eda." Rock responded with a small smile, stepping out of the car. "What you got for us this time?"

She smiled widely. "Come on in, don't be shy! You won't regret it."

The men followed her inside, where several wooden crates, filled with crumpled newspaper, stood menacingly. Among the papers black shiny metal peaked.

She extended a piece of paper to Benny. "Coordinates and the radio frequency. Today, 9:30 pm. You should reach the location in time with your boat if you leave within an hour."

Benny nodded, staring inside the crate. "What is that exactly?"

"Five Röchling shells. Originally for destroying bunkers, now repurposed as an IED with a timer and may be used depending on your imagination." She said proudly, pulling a cigarette out of the pack.

She placed it between her lips and leaned closer to Rock, suggestively.

He fished a lighter from his pocket and lit up her smoke, to which she winked.

"What is an IED?" He asked.

"Improvised Explosive Device."

Rock raised an eyebrow. He didn't know to whom they were carrying these explosives, but if they're meant to destroy bunkers, the buyers will probably target some buildings. Who were they? Terrorists?

"Allright, let's load them up."

When the car rolled down the hill towards the port, Rock revived the conversation.

"You asked if it was personal. Why?"

"Just a blind shot from my own experience." Benny responded. "When I was in college, I had this pretty intense girlfriend. She was hot and unpredictable and wild, like an untameable cat. I was really head over heels with her. She had a difficult childhood about which I didn't know too much, apart the fact that she was never planning to come home to her parents. Anyway, we had this weird cycle. Everything would be fine and nice for a couple of weeks or even months, but then whenever we spoke about her, or her past, even if she did that willingly, the next day she'd get so angry and pissed about basically anything. It seemed like she was looking for a reason to lash out while I was tiptoeing around her to prevent that from happening. After a little while she cooled off, and things slowly went back to normal again, before another flare. Only years later I kind of figured out that her next-day behaviour was a way to push me away, because she got afraid I was too close. She was incapable of trusting me."

Rock locked his eyes onto the piece of trash stuck to the dashboard in front of him, lost in thoughts. Benny's story was a scaringly good fit. For this precise reason Rock didn't want for Benny to relate it to Revy and withheld his thoughts for himself.

"How did it end?"

"She cheated on me repeatedly and intentionally and told me about it." Benny winced. "I didn't quite understand it then, but she wanted to make me hate her so I'd leave her. She succeeded."

"Sorry about that."

Benny waved it off. "That was a long time ago."

* * *

Meanwhile at the church:

"Sister Yolanda!" Eda's loud voice was echoing through the church chambers. "Heyyyy!"

"Shut up Eda, I can hear you. What are you screaming about?"

"It's Pablo from Puerto Rico group. They know about our Rochling shells and are asking if we have them, and if not - who did we sell them to. Offering 50,000 for a tip."

"50 k for a tip?" The old nun squinted their eyes. "They must really want them. Probably will try to ambush the Lagoon fellows."

"What do you think? We will only get the rest of our money if the Lagoon successfully delivers the goods."

"Hmm. If we don't interfere and everything goes according to the plan, we will get 200,000 for the shells minus 50,000 for the delivery, so 150,000 in total. If we give a tip to Puerto Ricans and they try but fail in Lagoon's ambush, we would end up with 150 k plus 50 k for the tip. If they ambush the Lagoon successfully and take over the shells, we are left with 100,000 that was given up front, minus 25 k I already paid Dutch, plus 50 k the guys from PR are willing to give. We will not get another 100,000 nor will the Lagoon get their remaining 25 k due to failed delivery; in the end we will be left with 125 k." Yolanda lit a cigarette and inhaled through it. "Phone them Eda. Offer a tip for 150 k, then agree to 100 k. 100 k is a win win for both sides - they will get their shells half the price, we will receive 175 worst case, 250 best case scenario. And we get the whole sum before they receive any tip."

"Okay, okay." Eda smiled, dialing a number.

* * *

The Lagoon's boat gently swayed, parked with it's stern towards the dock for easy transfer of the goods for when the Plymouth comes back.

Revy sat outside, angrily pulling one cigarette after another. She was still pissed at Rock for teasing her, and even though Dutch didn't say anything deeming this a personal matter, she didn't exactly want to stay in the same room with him either.

Suddenly some movement attracted her attention. A dozen of old, battered cars swarmed the port and men with guns flooded out of them. Revy quickly grabbed a pair of binoculars from the cabin, her hurried steps were followed by Dutch's question what was happening. She didn't respond until she took a closer look. South Americans, from the looks of it, carrying rifles. Some of them were coming closer to the torpedo boat, others scattered on the street, seemingly looking for something. A handful of men just stared at her, their guns ready. Something was not right at all.

"Dutch. It's an ambush."

He came outside to have a look too. There was at least 30 men with guns on sight, probably more in hiding. He ducked, pulling Revy with him so they're well hidden.

"If Rock and Benny comes back and spends a fraction of a second gazing upon this crowd, they are fucked. We all are."

He hurried down to the cabin and grabbed a phone. He dialed the number, but the line on the other end wasn't working. Benny mentioned that the phone in the car is broken, but he probably didn't gather the necessary details to repair it yet.

"Fuck, I knew it was a bad idea for them to go pick up that delivery alone. Neither of them is armed." She muttered under her nose, scanning their new companions.

Dutch came back. "I can't reach them by phone, which means there is no way to warn them. We can hope they will somehow notice this themselves and drive away before it's too late, but in that case we won't make the delivery on time. Alternatively, if we were to open fire from here, we'd probably be able to kill at least a dozen, but with their numbers and guns it's likely we'll get some holes too. Probably more than we can actually take, since it just two of us against all of them. It's best to stay hidden for now, and once Rock and Benny comes back, we cover them from the boat."

Revy peeked outside again.

"Dutch, look at the barricade they made with their cars. The don't intend to let them back into the port. These assholes will ambush them on the road."

The driveway of the port was a large area adjacent to the street and not separated from the road by any fence. Except now a long line of automobiles were packed so it would be impossible for anyone to enter. Several newer cars were parked in the street with their engines revving - so the ambushers were ready for whatever scenario. If Benny and Rock would try to drive away, they'd be prosecuted and likely ambushed along the way. If they just stopped for a second, they'd be jumped by a swarm of armed men.

"Fuck!" she hissed.

"Let's grab the guns, Revy."

As they both fastened the bullet belts and grabbed one firearm after another, they heard some commotion outside.

Side by side Revy and Dutch stuck their guns out of the boat's hatch before poking their heads. The red Plymouth stood in the middle of the street, facing the barricade, surrounded by dozens of gunmen. On the other side of the barricade, closer to the port, a handful of men had their guns pointing to their boat.

Suddenly the Plymouth's passenger doors opened and a white-shirted man stepped out of the car with his hands above his head.

"Fuck! What the hell is that idiot doin?" Revy grappled for the binoculars. In one hand he held some kind of black plastic item with a wire. In the other - a grenade. He was shouting something, but over the distance she couldn't hear what he said. A second later she saw him pull out the grenade's pin with his teeth. Revy pressed her lips tightly. "What the fuck are you doing, Rock?" She said silently, squinting, as Dutch took over the binoculars to have a look.

"He is probably threatening to blow up the car with the bombs inside if they open fire."

"Yeah, but if they say no, what is he going to do? A staring contest? They will shoot him as soon as he throws that grenade somewhere."

Dutch's eyes suddenly caught some motion behind a wheel. "No… He knows they won't shoot him as long as he has that grenade in his hand. He's buying time… Revy, get ready to cover them!"

Suddenly a hand popped through the driver's window and everything surrounding the Lagoon's car disappeared in smoke.

"Revy, now!" Dutch shouted, but she pressed the trigger even before he finished saying her name. "Just don't shoot the car!"

At the same time, somewhere in the midst of the smoke cloud, someone roared the exact same thing in Spanish. As the gunmen fled from the haziness, desperately looking for their hidden human targets yet forced to avoid firing directly at the car, they were shot one by one by Revy's and Dutch's automatic rifles. The guns danced in their arms, and the hot shell rain fell through the hatch inside the cabin. Several dozen bullets flew just next to their ears, but within seconds the intensity decreased as the body count on the ground rose. The remaining survivors hid behind the adjacent buildings, waiting for the smoke to clear, probably planning to shoot the Plymouth driver. However, the car was not in that spot anymore.

After a few moments one of the cars forming barricade emerged from the cloud, with Rock behind a wheel. Closely behind him the Plymouth followed, and as the two cars sped towards the torpedo boat, the hidden ambushers fled after them, surprised at the unexpected breach. In doing that they revealed themselves to Revy, who was now standing on the dock with her cutlasses, cherry picking the last men.

Benny parked the car and hurriedly opened the trunk. Although the car did receive several bullets, the shells were intact. He looked around, and waved to Dutch who was hurrying towards him.

Rock pulled up and stepped out of the "borrowed" car. He looked around the bloody scene, bodies scattered around throughout the port. He fixed his eyes on Revy, her cutlass rising and aiming towards one of the guys that ambushed them. He recognized him.

"Revy, don't kill him!"

As soon as her gun fired, a second shot followed quickly. Her bullet landed in the man's leg, and another bullet tore his way in Rock's left arm. He grunted from pain, instinctively loosening his grip of the grenade that he was still clutching. Revy turned to him, her eyes widened upon realization of what just happened. She took a step towards him, but the distance was too great - she knew she won't make it. Just as she opened her mouth to shout his name - as if that would have changed anything - he let go of the black plastic object in his right hand and clasped the grenade with both of his hands. With increasing horror Revy followed the object as it hit the ground - one of the crates was currently in the hands of Dutch and Benny - but after a moment of deafening silence, nothing happened. The plastic remote hit the gravel. Rock's bloody fingers were wrapped around the unpinned grenade. Dutch and Benny continued without noticing.

"Oh fuck." She cursed under her nose, quickly scanning the environment in search of a shooter. The glistening barrel soon revealed him in one of the buildings. Revy lifted her gun and fired several times, the shooter hid. With her eyes fixed on the target she started walking towards Rock, who just stood here out in the open wincing from pain. When she was within arm distance, he looked at her, but their eyes didn't meet - she was on full hunting mode. Without even looking down she slid her fingers between his palms and grabbed the grenade.

A small smirk appeared on her lips, and for a fraction of a second she looked back at him. "What do you think? Hit or miss?" Revy lifted her hand and threw the grenade. It flew right through the open window and the next moment a second floor of a building collapsed with a bang.

"Well, one down, one to go." Revy turned to the man she shot earlier who was now trying to crawl. "Why did you want him alive, Rock?" As she looked at him, he bent down and picked the plastic object from the ground.

Revy gaped at it, shocked.

"Is that… MY casette player!?"

"Yeah, I found this in the glove compartment and decided to improvise. Sorry. I hope I didn't break it."

"I thought… it was a fucking remote…"

"Well you were supposed to." He said, glancing at his left hand and blood dripping on the ground and soaking into the gravel. Strangely, it didn't hurt anymore. "I was hoping everyone will think the same. Actually, there are no remotes, the bombs only have timers."

Revy stood speechless.

"And that guy over there, I think he's one of the leaders of this group." Rock tilted his head towards the man trying to crawl to his car. He lifted the player in front of her eyes. "Do you mind if I borrow this for another minute?"

* * *

When they finally boarded the ship and Revy gave the signal to Dutch to sail, Rock was about to get into the cabin through the hatch when suddenly he stumbled. He grabbed the rail and managed to stay on his feet, but turned around, looking for Revy.

"I don't feel very good..."

Sluggishly he climbed down into the cabin, stirring metal shells under his feet, and made his way towards the bunk beds, however he stumbled again before reaching them and slumped on the ground, leaning his back against the wall.

"So that's a first, isn't it?" Revy smiled, soaking a towel in the sink, gathering the bandages and rum. "It gets better with time. After five… well maybe ten shots this is going to be nothing more than some itch."

As the boat sped away from Roanapur she mercilessly tore away his shirt sleeve, uncovering the gaping flesh, gave a quick glance and then bent his arm to check the exit wound. Rock winced from the pain. She gave a short look, a small smile appeared on her lips. Her movements became much more gentle.

"Your hand is warm, meaning the arteries are intact." She run her fingers across his forearm, soiling them with his blood, feeling the bones, then slowly twisted his hand both ways. Rock pressed his lips together, his eyes closed. "The bones seem to be fine as well, so the bullet probably tore only the muscles and tendons. You're a lucky son of a bitch, Rock."

Revy let go of his hand to open a bottle of rum, wordlessly shoved it in his right palm, and his eyes jolted open. A drop of blood, slowly rolling down his left arm, caught his eye and he followed it sluggishly as it reached his elbow and fell, splattering on her thigh.

"Take your pain killer before you pass out on me." She hid a smile, gently cleaning his skin with a wet cloth. As she slowly wiped away the blood, he did as instructed, his eyes following her movements. She carefully stroked the towel around his wound, continuing up, cleaning the palm, sliding the cloth between his fingers. The drops of water mixed with blood run down her elbows, dripping on her legs and his pants. He noticed her ponytail was loose, and a strand of her hair was gradually sliding out, before finally it broke free and hung by her cheek. Paying no mind Revy carried on, and a little later took back the bottle from his hand. She brought it to her mouth, taking a generous sip. He stared as the tip of her tongue slid out to get the drops on her lips. His right hand, now empty, suddenly found his way towards her cheek, and before giving a proper thought Rock gently tucked the strand behind her ear, his fingertips softly touching her skin.

As Revy pulled away and raised her surprised eyes, he almost whispered.

"You can be so gentle."

Her eyebrow rose ever so slightly. It might have been his imagination in the dimly lit cabin, but he saw her cheeks getting slightly flushed.

The following moment Rock suddenly felt burning razor-sharp pain on his gunshot wounds.

"Aaaahffffuck!" he pulled his arm and pushed himself against the wall to get further away, but Revy held his wrist firmly. In her other hand she had the rum.

"Fuck, Revy, you could have told me what you were going to do!"

Mostly ignoring, she began placing bandages on his wounds, now much less gently pressing them against his skin with her fingers.

"I could've." She responded with a smirk, wrapping his arm.

With his eyebrows still furrowed, he sighed and reached for the bottle again.

"All done." She stood up, cleaned away the blood from her thighs, and offered him a hand.

Rock glanced at her, transferred the bottle to his injured limb, and took the offer. She helped him up, but he didn't let go of her hand immediately. "Thank you."

Behind his words were a mixture of actual gratitude and a hint of sarcasm, a definite result of the rum surprise.

Revy squinted her eyes in fake suspicion, responding to the sarcasm in his voice.

As she disappeared behind a door leading to the cockpit, Rock leaned his shoulder against the wall. He was still feeling light-headed, but the feeling was luckily fading. He glanced at the bottle in his hand and decided to put it away before another kind of dizziness kicked in.

"So it was the nuns themselves who sold us off, huh?" - As Rock followed Revy into the cockpit, he overheard Dutch reverberating the news. He didn't sound too surprised. With his lit cigarette he gazed into the slightly cloudy sky outside, lazily recognizing what happened.

Revy pulled a lighter too. "Yeah. Eda's a snake. I ought to open up a few more holes in her."

Rock listened, blankly staring at Revy's fingers lighting up her cigarette. As she told Dutch what they were able to find out from the man, his thoughts floated elsewhere. The memory of almost getting hit by her fist in the morning was still rather vivid in his mind, as vivid as the story he heard yesterday. However, her sudden change of behaviour after he got hurt didn't fit with Benny's story. Wasn't she supposed to continue being cold and cruel towards him? Instead, it seemed like she cared enough to take care of his wound. It was as if her behaviour was suddenly reset with him getting a bullet.

Revy raised her hands and re-tied her hair. Seeing the strands between her fingers suddenly brought back another memory, upon which his face flushed. Did he… actually hit on her? What in the world was he thinking? Evidently, nothing. But even more interesting was her reaction - hostile, again, and on purpose. Rock caught her eyes. He couldn't figure her out. There was something unsaid between her words, behind those looks, between them. The unpredictability was scary, yet intriguing.

"What?" Revy asked, irritated, jolting him out of his daydreams.

"Huh?"

"What are you staring at me for?"

"Nothing." He shrugged, shifting his gaze, but feeling two suspicious eyes still staring at his face. He wondered what did she think when he grazed her cheek. In the normal world a person would probably think of this as romantic, but what about this world, and her world? She probably registered it as being too intimate, therefore proceeded burning his wounds without a warning. Was that again a fit to Benny's story? Backing away as soon as someone gets an inch closer?


End file.
